Xiaolin Showdown: Elemental Ages
by EternalFluffy
Summary: (Sequel to Break His Crown) The five Xiaolin Warriors must find their Element Orbs to defeat a mysterious evil force, but with a new enemy, a new ally, and a new Dragon of Ice, it isn't going to be easy! Will they survive the second great Showdown War?
1. Prelude to Enhancements

Xiaolin Showdown and all its characters belong to Warner Brothers. Bob, Shésui, Jerry, Henry, and any attacks/other Shen-Gong-Wu I make up all belong to me.

I'm back. With a vengeance. Anyway, this is a series continuation of "Break His Crown", meaning that it's a separate series of events, but using the situations in BHC. Think of BHC as a kind of "movie" and this is the "TV series" that follows. Or something. I said I would try to stray away from so much Jack focus, but…I can't help it. I end up writing about him even when I try not to. So…this is going to be an "everyone-but-mostly-Jack" fic. WARNING: this fic may contain references and/or spoilers for those of you who haven't seen Season 2 of Xiaolin Showdown… I don't think there's anything big in this chapter, though. And it's finally going to be coming out in the UK soon, so I won't have to worry about it! Yay!

Oh, and I finally found a good Chinese-English dictionary, so I can start giving my characters and Shen-Gong-Wu Chinese names. It's probably incorrect naming, because I don't know how the language works, but Shésui is supposed to mean "evil snake spirit" or something like that. Shé means snake and sui means evil spirit. Originally, she was named Hebi, which is snake in Japanese, because I only had a good Japanese-English dictionary.

(-)

Chapter 1: Prelude to Enhancements

The five scattered to the corners of the planet, lying in waiting for the emergency in which they would again be required. It seemed the several security barriers were now in place. The world was now set for a long, almost illusionary period of peace and stability. But, before this giant barrier, something else had to come into existence…

(-)

"Do you think these capsules will do the trick, master?" a lady with gray hair up in a bun asked behind the shadows of a screen.

"Ah, yes, perfect everyone. Keep it up," a tall, relaxed figure complimented the other unknown people in attendance.

"But what of that other one?" another male asked in the distance.

"Aw, if she was bested by her own kind, we shouldn't worry about her."

"Well, appearances can be deceiving and you can't underestimate the enemy's potential."

"But the important thing is that she's locked away," the relaxed male voice spoke up again.

"But we don't know how long _their _containment devices will hold up for," a third male voice argued. "She could be back in the next century!"

"So could Wuya," the original voice said, firmly. "There's no use in worrying…" Suddenly, his voice took on a more serious tone. "…Hey! Jinshu! Jinshu, what are you _doing_?"

"I can't…help it…" an exhausted female voice panted in the distance.

"No! Don't put that in there!" But before anyone could do anything, the crackle of lightning could be heard across the landscape of China. It was too late. It had been done. And there was nothing any of them could do about it now.

The casual master murmured a few prayers over the grotesque sight, and the blue, red, green, white, black, and silver aura twinkled off into the twilight to wait. Wait for their masters. _Please, _Master Dashi prayed. _Let no one ever find that one… I shall guide it to its safe place, where no one will ever think to look for it…_

And, with the omnipotent magician's prayer, marks began to appear on objects all across China…and out into the galaxy. Yes…no one would ever find it, and unlock this dreadful curse… Jinshu's folly has assured a connection…but it was impossible for there to be one of both, even in the unpredictable future. …Right?

(-)

A gentle golden glow burned amongst the individual grains of the beach. It was an unusual sight, especially that something like this would happen on the smog-covered streets of Chicago. But today was the perfect setup…the one that would lead directly to the horrible events that would require their extensions.

The screech of a rubber tire grinding against tar interrupted the gentle, peaceful waves of the ocean. A fourteen-year-old boy jumped off his bouncing, high motorcycle and stepped down into the warm, soft sand. But, he definitely wasn't here to see the ocean, enjoy himself, or even to pick up chicks. Today, Bob Sanderson was here on a personal mission.

Bob took a step towards the waves and glanced, suspiciously around. He'd heard from his Organization buddies that another of their targets would be hanging around here. It was time to eradicate him, and being the founder and original leader of CFPU (Children For Pure Unity), he took it upon himself to execute these missions. Just another step towards the perfect unity that he and his troupe all craved- a world without mutations, without bothersome distractions.

However, this one didn't seem to be showing up for his execution. It was a stereotype surfer boy, and shouldn't be allowed to breathe the same oxygen as the members of CFPU. And he shouldn't feel at all guilty, because it wasn't murder.

For three years, Bob had been studying the principles of olden witchcraft, and if he tried hard enough, he could even send people straight to the spirit world without even bothering to physically kill them. Actually, that was where they belonged anyway. They should have never been born, and Bob's philosophy was that if you didn't appreciate this world enough, than you shouldn't be allowed to be in it. It was time to send this surfer dude to the dark side…the problem was, this surfer dude hadn't shown up!

Bob kicked the peaceful, soft sand of the Chicago beach frustratingly. _Will you show up already? _He yelled at the boy in his mind. _I want to test out our new strategy. _It was the perfect opportunity, and the ocean, he'd learned, was an effective connector to the spiritual world. The water was a critical magical substance that would lead to the banishment of these people. In fact, Bob could almost feel the power at this moment, humming warmly at his feet.

He reached down to feel this beneficial power, but his long fingers pressed against some oddly warm, metallic object. Closing his hand, greedily around it, he realized with happy excitement. _Yes! I found some money! _And it must have only been recently lost, since it was still warm from the person's palm. He eagerly extricated the object from the mountain of sand on the shore.

Bob looked up into his hand and noticed that, to his disappointment, he wasn't holding a golden coin or a piece of sparkling buried treasure; in his hand was a gold hoop, with gossamer strands crisscrossing in the middle. "What the heck is _this _piece of junk?" Bob said aloud. "Who would want a giant gold ring? Well, maybe that's why they threw it away at the beach!"

Then, as he stared into the metallic gold bars, they began to blur into one portal. The splotchy yellow clouds began to turn blue, like robin's eggshells underneath a sunny sky. And finally, the blue shape solidified. The hoop shot out of Bob's hand, burying itself back beneath the beach, and the world at last settled. Bob blinked, incredulously at the shape before him. He couldn't have really…

A small, snakelike creature was floating in the air in front of him. She stretched her shapeless arms and flicked her forked tongue. Her skin was entirely blue and transparent, horns protruded from the sides of her head, and her eyes were made up of a series of red dots, arranged in a plus sign. She rolled the dots in her head for a few moments, before settling them on Bob. "Ah…free at last!" she cried, in a surprisingly light voice. "Are _you _the one who freed me?"

Bob blinked again, amazed that this bizarre creature could speak at all.

"Tell me, boy," the creature insisted, flying closer to stare into his brown eyes. "Do you know of the divine order?"

"Divine order?" Bob repeated. Well, the type of banishing witchcraft he had been studying was associated with a hierarchical society of dark sorceresses… "Are you…" Bob slowly asked, in fascination. "…One of the Heylin?"

"Ah, so you know about the ancient, divine order of the Heylin?" the creature responded. "Then, yes, I guess I am."

"I've been studying your banishment theory. It's come in most useful."

At last, the creature broke into what appeared to be a sinister smile. She held out a blobby, nonexistent hand. "My name is Shésui, high Heylin apprentice. Pleased to meet you, um…"

"Bob Sanderson," Bob introduced himself, holding out his hand. However, he soon realized that his hand would just go straight through it.

Shésui smiled. "So…you know of our teleportation technique. What could possibly drive you to study our techniques?"

Bon grinned when she asked him. "Why, I'm the leader of CFPU!" he cried, matter-of-factly. "Our chief purpose is to eradicate the undeserving individuals of the world. We've been using your banishment to send these people to another dimension where they truly belong. We're just a group of teens for universal unity."

"Excellent," Shésui cooed, and moved a bit closer. "I sense the darkness tainted in your heart. You shall introduce me to your lifestyle, and then I'll decide whether to honor you with my allegiance."

Bob raised his thin, suspicious eyebrows. "My…lifestyle?"

Precisely at that moment, the ten-minute mission timer went off, and the other members of CFPU came crashing through the beach barrier on their Harleys. "Yo! Robert!" The closest to the entrance called over to him. "What's the problem here? Did you dispatch the undeserving?"

When they looked in their direction Shésui immediately transformed into a pretty young lady with wavy brown hair and a blue dress. Bob gaped back at her, but quickly turned back to his rough teammates. "Nah," he replied, trying to look disappointed. "The stupid specimen never showed up!"

"Hey, hey," another one behind the first speaker announced. "Perhaps it wasn't a case of not showing up…it was that little Bobby got _side-tracked_!"

Bob crossed his arms in frustration. "Oh, please. I will always carry out my mission, no matter how many hot girls show up."

"So who's your little friend?" the first Harley-riding speaker asked. "Perhaps you could, uh…introduce us?"

"Well, I'm not exactly sure who she is either."

Shésui finally smiled an ironically warm, welcoming expression. "My name is Shésui," she blatantly stated. "And I was about to form an alliance with your leader, if that's okay with you."

"So…what about that lifestyle thing?" Bob asked, giving his new companion suspicious glances.

Shésui threw her ironically grateful expression over at him. "You've already shown me your lifestyle," she explained, nodding towards the hog-riding CFPU members, still standing next to them. "And, lucky for you, I approve. This company only enhances the darkness in your heart." At last, Shésui stuck out her now solid hand. Bob wrapped his hand around hers, and they shook.

The other CFPU members raised their eyebrows at each other. "So, boss…is she comin' along with us?"

Bob's face broke into a grimace. "Oh, yes. Give her a seat of honor on your hog, Gerald." Shésui finally let her new tool lead her towards the group of his followers and his life. The prejudiced teen had suddenly become a gentleman, lifting the beautiful witch onto her seat on the back of Gerald's motorcycle. He then got back onto his own motorcycle, though throwing glances back over at his operative every now and then. He couldn't allow the lusty Jerry to hurt her in any way. He had brought her back into the world, and now he responsible for looking out for her, especially in this magnificent human form.

So, throwing a glance over at his friends and co-workers, Bob thrust an arm out to the distance, powerfully commanding them all at once. "To headquarters!" he cried, and with a roar of flames and smoke, the motorcycles zoomed off into the inner city of Chicago in a cloud of smog, getting lost in the atmosphere of the area.

Yet another chapter of Bob's life had begun, but this time it wasn't just the same old thing again. This was the beginning of the Shésui ages…the beginning of the second great Showdown War…

(-)

Third grade. Third grade was always a struggle, but this third grade was entirely…nonexistent. Yup, the little boy on the lawn of the red-rimmed mansion knew better. He didn't need third grade. In fact, that online IQ test he'd taken yesterday had actually said he belonged in high school instead of the third grade he was missing. Besides, he needed to use his talents to produce new projects to help humankind. In fact, today, he was test-running the newly completed Propeller Lifter.

The sprawling, gardened field spread right in front of the modern, ancient building. He quickly glanced around to make sure none of the snoopy workers were watching.

"Propeller Lifter-Experiment #002!" He took a big running jump and pressed a button around his waist. Propellers shot out of tubes around his shoulders. The devices sputtered for a few moments, but quit a few seconds later.

Little Jack Spicer screamed as he plummeted back to the flat grass. Oh well…it looked like the device would need a bit more tweaking before it would work like it was supposed to. This particular model was the second in the line, but it still couldn't keep him aloft like a jetpack. It was dangerous standing so close to the chopping blades, but Jack knew how to handle them, and none of the family members or workers seemed to mind if he accidentally chopped his fingers off.

As the shoulder propellers malfunctioned and sputtered out, they suddenly burst forward, and Jack's body went careening across the wide yard. At last, he shoved his legs out in an attempt to brake himself. He felt as his small, rubbery boots slammed against something hard and brown, in a vertical position. He sprang back off of this wall and went crashing to the ground.

"Ugh…"little Jack groaned, quickly switching off the machine before it bent too far in and chopped off his hair. He dazedly struggled around to his knees, and looked up at the object he'd crashed into.

It was a tree. A simple, green-leaved tree stood before him, although, strangely enough, there was some sort of symbol carved into its trunk. "Weird," he commented to himself. "Why is there a yin-yang on that tree? Sheesh, even the _trees _in China are weird."

There hadn't been too many trees where he used to live, except in the family garden. Before this move to China, the Spicer family had lived in a mansion on the outskirts of Chicago, Illinois. This was because of his father's prodigious job in the city. He even owned a skyscraper there. By now, he'd earned enough steady income to live the rest of his life in the lap of luxury, and had dragged Jack here in order to help him "focus his powers" or something ridiculous like that. Anyway, little Jack was still getting used to the brand new landscape and atmosphere. This tree was probably yet another aspect of China he'd have to get used to. He got to his feet and stared up at the chipped symbol in interest.

Slowly, an aura of light began glowing around the picture's edges. Jack seemed to lose consciousness, although he remained upright. He lost all his sense of feeling, in a kind of trance, his red eyes turned solid vermillion, and he stared straight into the center of the yin-yang. Slowly, his arms began to levitate, all on their own. They formed upwards into an "L" shape, and the gaseous magic cloud grew larger and expanded outwards.

Just at that moment, Mr. Spicer was going for a stroll in the Chinese-styled yard, which was highly unusual, but it was fortunate for him that he was. His identical red eyes widened immediately when he noticed the telltale explosion of white and black in the distance. "…_John_?" he yelled in alarm. Not bothering to wait for an answer, he sprinted off towards the tree to catch the magic process before it went any further. "_Johnny_!" he screamed, running across the field. He nearly body-slammed the little boy in his desperate attempt to get him away from the tree.

As soon as Mr. Spicer slammed into his back, Jack's eyes popped back into normal, watery red and he broke out of his magical trance. An instant later, he could feel his little body hanging in the air, and for a split second, he wondered if he'd finally flown. But, just a second later, he realized that his father was just holding him in a lock over one shoulder.

"_Dad_?" he cried, looking down at the ground. "What? Why?"

"Don't go near that tree," Mr. Spicer forcefully scolded. "It's very dangerous. Don't you ever go near it again, do you hear me?"

"O-Okay…" Jack nervously responded. He expected his father to let him back to the ground afterwards, but unexpectedly, the cold, stolid man began to walk away back to the front door and up the stone cobble pathway, still carrying Jack over his shoulder.

The gardeners looked up from their watering, shearing, and shoveling at the unusual sight. It was unusual to see Mr. Spicer outside, even more so _with _his son, and especially even _making contact_ with his son.

At last, the bedecked man let Jack down on the plush carpet, just on the other side of his bedroom door. "Remember…" he warned, wagging an index finger in his face. "…You must never use your powers." He then slammed the hardwood door on his son.

Jack scowled and swiveled around to face his bed. Powers…ha. What "powers"? For years, Mr. Spicer had given him this speech about not using his nonexistent "powers". It wasn't fair. How could he not use his powers if he didn't even have powers to begin with? It made him terribly frustrated whenever his father brought it up. _If I really had powers,_ Jack ironically thought, _I would've made that tree fall right on top of him!_

He pulled the malfunctioning Propeller Lifter off his back, tossing it into a corner of his room. This room was becoming so cluttered with various, half-assembled piles of robots and other devices. Now he'd have to redesign and recover the Propeller Lifter entirely. If only he had a larger, clearer, more organized place to work…

As Jack struggled towards his dark-draped canopy bed, he stepped on several wiry metal objects. Finally, just when he was about to grab the curtain and swing himself inside, something sticking out of another pile of metal caught on the end of his coat, and he went flying face-first into a piece of old carpet. His father always yelled at him to clean his messy room, but it really wasn't his fault. The room was too small and his plans were too large. At last, his gloved hand reached the edge of the mattress, and he pulled the rest of his body up onto it.

Not knowing what else to do in this awkward situation, Jack pulled out a beat-up old black binder and began to jot down some experiment data on the Propeller Lifter Experiment #002. If only he could get the darned thing to work correctly…then he could just fly off, wherever he wanted to go. For now, he was trapped here for what felt like the rest of eternity.

"Motor failed at (3,8) 2:11PM. More powerful internal mechanism required." Then, the more he stared blankly at the notes record, he decided that he should note down that symbol he'd found on the tree. Jack began to sketch a round yin-yang symbol on the side of his notes. His shaking hands slipped and a pencil line now scratched across yesterday's observations. "Darnit," he muttered to himself, and desperately tried to erase it. It wouldn't go away, no matter how hard he pressed.

The notes remained against the wall in that now abandoned room…which at this present moment, was being converted into a storeroom.

(-)

…While in the present timeframe, an illusionary heaven existed, floating along, gently in a bubble, like a drop from the Vase of Viscous Visions…all light and fluffy…like it wasn't even true. In this shining drop of time, a group of young teens were gathering around a simple, circular, wooden table, talking, laughing, and cracking jokes.

Various multicolored streamers dangled from the ceiling and the edge of the table itself, just in front of the ordinary, wooden counters, and its out-of-place kitchen appliances. Here, these five special teens congregated to celebrate some fortunate event.

There was Clay Bailey, the embodiment of the element Earth. He was a calm, yet strong American cowboy with moral principles. He had a kind, loving family back on his ranch in Texas. At the moment, Clay was sitting near the back of the table, tipping his ten-gallon cowboy hat and letting his messy golden locks hang free.

Right next to Clay was a small, bald child in a temple robe, standing up on his chair to see. He was Omi, the wise, old-fashioned, self-proclaimed leader of the bunch, and embodiment of the element Water. Though the others picked on him because of his size, he was a strong force of goodness. You'd never guess from his cheerful disposition, but Omi was actually an orphan, who had never known his real parents. He'd grown up right here in the Xiaolin Temple with Master Fung. In fact, right now, he was grinning over the table, leaning against the top with his small hands.

To Omi's left, a stylish Japanese girl was standing, tacking on a few extra decorations. She was Kimiko Toho, the explosive, emotional, rich girl who embodied the element Fire. Today, she was in a special rainbow-striped dress, her shiny black hair clipped back with a butterfly clip. Kimiko came from a prominent family in Tokyo, so she always had the latest gadgets, like her cell phone and PDA. Still, she seemed to be glad to be away from them at the moment, joyfully blowing up balloons.

Right across from Kimiko, a dark-skinned boy with flopping brown hair was talking in an excitedly loud voice to his companion. He was Raimundo Pedrosa- or Rai for short, whose carefree nature perfectly fit his resident element of Wind. Rai came from a performing troupe in Brazil, with a tight family of a mother, father, older brother, and younger sister, who were all acrobats. He was confident, athletic, and playful, often teasing the others and getting on their nerves. Right now, Rai seemed to be practicing his art on the boy sitting at the head of the table.

He was dressed all in black, with floppy, literal red hair, and a smattering of freckles under his matching red eyes. He was their newest addition- Jack Spicer, who for many moths prior had been their mortal enemy. Jack was a real tech-head, which was fitting of his element- Metal, yet even his intelligence couldn't hide his childish, goofy, and awkward nature. Unlike most of the other Xiaolin Warriors, as they called themselves, he came from a broken urban American family. His father was a wealthy and suppressing business owner, while he'd never known his mother, who'd left the family when he was three.

At the moment, though, none of those problems were on Jack's mind. Besides, this was a special day- the day of his promotion! Since he'd discovered his powers much later than the other four, he'd had to work hard to catch up, but after a few months of training with Master Fung, speed-reading a few kung-fu method books, and with a little help from Raimundo, Jack had finally become a Xiaolin Apprentice, and just a few minutes ago, had received his cobalt-colored sash. Since he refused to wear a temple uniform, and had nowhere to put it, it was wrapped around his head ninja-style at this moment, in place of his normal, swirling red goggles.

At last, Kimiko finished inflating the last blue balloon, stretched, and knotted the end, while glancing over at the scene. She shoved the balloon onto a hanging decoration with the others of its kind, and looked back. "Oh," she realized. "I forgot to light the candles!" With one snap of her fingers, Kimiko magically lit the five skinny white candles in the rectangular cake in front of them.

"It's about time!" a familiar, complaining voice cried, and no one was surprised when a small, long green dragon clambered up on top of the circular table. "I was just about to dive into that thing myself if you didn't get on with it soon. C'mon, kid, hurry up and blow out the candles!"

"Blow out the candles?" At last, Jack managed to pull himself away from the conversation with Rai, turning, questioningly to Kimiko on his left. She'd been the one to plan this whole event, after all. "You really expect me to blow out the candles? It's not my birthday!"

"But the cake's got your name on it," Omi observed, pointing in fascination at the center. The little boy had never seen a cake before, and was staring at the frosting in wonder and awe. Could such a pretty thing really be eaten?

Jack looked over at the dessert, and noticed that indeed, someone had written the words "Congratulations, Jack" in red icing…and he was pretty sure he knew who it was. "Kimiko…" he said, sighing, and sneaking another look over at the Japanese girl.

Kimiko and Jack had been together for two months now. He was really happy and felt extremely lucky to have her as his girlfriend, but sometimes she went a little too far and ended up embarrassing him. Of course, by now, he'd gotten used to being embarrassed in front of the others on a daily basis, but acting like it was his birthday… In a few minutes, he almost expected her to give him presents and whip out a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Well…the presents part wouldn't be too bad…

"This is no fair," Raimundo sulked to the side. "You never did anything like this for _me_ when I got promoted."

"What are you talking about?" Kimiko objected. "We had a party after Master Fung dismissed us…we had a party when you came back to the temple, too!"

"Yeah, but not with cake, and decorations, and all this. And you used to like me back then, how come you never…"

"You weren't my _boyfriend_," Kimiko continued, proudly, smiling over at Jack. Jack's cheeks flushed pink and he felt like hiding under the table as Rai turned and glared at him.

"I don't care what she says," the envious Brazilian spoke up. "I think you've used some sort of hypnotizing machine on her. Or maybe you used that Soul Scepter thing and took away her free will…"

"I did _not_!" Jack cried, aghast. "I would never do something like that to her!" _Well, never isn't exactly the right word…_ he admitted to himself, though he kept his angry face straight.

"Oh, yeah?" Rai argued. "Well, what about that time when…."

"_Who cares_?" Dojo interrupted the two boys, "Just blow out the darn candles already!" He was staring, wide-eyed at the cake in front of him and licking his chops in anticipation.

"Okay, okay," Jack finally, reluctantly complied. He leaned forward, bringing his head closer to the cake. As Rai watched him, a strange, mischievous grin appeared on his face, and Kimiko worriedly noticed on the sidelines. Just what was he up to now? Jeez…the two of them always seemed to be up to something…

At last, Jack gently blew out the candles, and the instant he did, Rai reached up and shoved the back of his head down. Just as he'd planned, Jack's face went straight into the cake, and when he slowly lifted it again, it was covered in frosting, with small pieces of cake crumbling off.

Omi, Clay, and Dojo burst into laughter on the other side of the table, since they'd got a front-seat view, and even Kimiko was having a hard time keeping in her giggles. Of course, Rai, the jokester himself was cracking up, putting his feet up on his chair and holding his stomach. "Hey, Jack!" he managed to tease between his laughter. "I thought you weren't going to wear your makeup anymore!"

Jack's red eyes flashed dangerously from out of the frosting as he shot death glares at Rai. Then, just when the Brazilian had his eyes closed and seemed most unaware, he jumped up, grabbed him around the neck, and shoved his face into the cake as well. "Ha!" he laughed, holding him in it for a few minutes while he gloated. "How do you like that now? Does it taste good, to have a dose of your own medicine?"

At last, Rai managed to wrench his head away from the cake. His face was now also covered in frosting. "You're going to pay for that!" he cried, grabbing a handful of cake and lobbing it at Jack.

Jack ducked, and it hit Kimiko instead, getting her involved in the impromptu food fight as well. Omi grabbed bits of cake and tossed it around, since he now figured that that was what you were supposed to do with cake, and Clay sat back, staring at them as if they were all idiotic children. Meanwhile, Dojo scuttled between the four of them, trying to eat the remnants of the cake before they used it all up, and avoid being squashed at the same time.

Suddenly, the grave-faced Master Fung burst into the room, and everyone froze in position. It seemed they had been making a little too much noise and attracted his attention. The temple master's narrowing blue eyes seemed to speak for him, and no one had to ask anything.

"Uh…he started it!" Jack finally managed to speak, pointing accusingly at Raimundo.

"_Me_?" Rai objected. "Hey, it's not my fault if you don't know how to take a little joke!"

"You call shoving someone's face into a cake a little joke?"

Master Fung held up his hand for silence, and the two boys froze once again. Kimiko brushed pieces of cake from her skirt and out of her hair in the background, while Omi did the same with his temple uniform. Disturbingly enough, Dojo jumped up and began licking the frosting off of Rai and Jack's faces.

"I don't remember giving you permission to have a party," the master stonily stated.

"I'm sorry…" Kimiko spoke up, taking the blame. "It was my idea. I should have come and asked you first…"

"No, it's my fault," Rai and Jack both said at the same time. They stopped and looked at each other. "…It's more my fault than your fault," Jack admitted. "I'm the one with the birthday…er, the promotion day."

"But I started the whole food fight," Rai took responsibility. "If I hadn't done that, no one would have ever known…"

Master Fung raised an eyebrow at him. Then, he turned to his newest Xiaolin Apprentice, putting on another disapproving look. "And Jack, I don't think you should be celebrating so soon… I haven't even seen your second level attack yet."

Jack hung his head. "Yeah…I was a little too excited. If I knew Kimiko was planning this, then I would have…stop kissing me, dragon!" Frustrated, he ripped Dojo away from his cheek, holding the little reptile at arm's length, disgustedly.

"I wasn't kissing!" Dojo cried, squirming around in his hand. "I was licking! There's a big difference! C'mon, you've still got a bunch of frosting on your face…let me clean it up for you!"

"I can clean my own face, thanks," Jack shot back, tossing him to the floor in front of Master Fung.

"_Dojo_…" the angry temple master said, looming threateningly over his reptilian companion.

"Uh…sorry, Master Fung!" Dojo stuttered in his defense. "They were tempting me with cake! You know I have a hard time dealing with my…frosting fetish." He shot a quick glance back at the frosted Rai and Jack before scuttling back onto Master Fung's shoulder.

"Double chores tonight," the temple leader at last issued the punishment. "All of you." This was followed by a resounding chorus of groans.

"What about me?" Clay asked, standing up from his wooden chair and making his way to the front. "I wasn' even a part of this here mudslingin'."

"But you just sat back and watched it all happen, didn't you?"

The cowboy hung his head, disappointedly. "Yeah…I guess so."

"Double chores," Master Fung repeated. "Now I suggest you all clean up this mess and meet me out in the garden."

The five Xiaolin Warriors looked at each other, despairingly. _Yup_, Kimiko thought as she looked at the two of them. _They're always up to something. Rai and Jack always seem to get us all in trouble, too…_ After Master Fung left, they all set to work scrubbing the table and surrounding area clean, as well as their own skin and clothes.

Jack removed the sash from around his head and was rinsing it clean in the kitchen sink. "This thing's brand new, and already it's getting dirty," he commented.

"Well, I guess you're just a dirty Xiaolin Apprentice," Rai replied, washing off his medallion in the sink next to him.

"Shut up, I don't feel like taking any more of that from you," Jack said as he pulled his swirling goggles back on, and tied the Apprentice sash around his upper arm like an armband.

"Yeah, Rai," Kimiko spoke up, turning her head as she dried the furniture. "Just pipe down for now, okay? We're in enough trouble as it is."

Rai grumbled and hung his gold medallion back around his neck. _Just because you're his boyfriend now, you start turning against me? _He thought, but resolved to keep silent for the rest of the cleanup.

(-)

It was around 2:00 when the Xiaolin Apprentices finally met Master Fung in the temple's long, grassy yard. Surprisingly enough, he had no difficult obstacle courses, or training gimmicks set up anywhere around. He and Dojo were simply standing beneath a large tree and examining something on a scroll of paper in Master Fung's hands.

"Um…what did you need us to meet you here for, Master Fung?" Omi asked, putting a little finger to his mouth, thoughtfully.

The old, respected elder looked up, and rolled his scroll closed. "Ah," he said with a smile. "I see you've finally decided to join me. I trust the kitchen is all span and spick?" Everyone just nodded, because no one had the heart to correct him (and Omi thought he _was_ correct). "It is once again a time of change for you, young warriors," Master Fung began, in his foreboding voice. "I am now going to teach you your new techniques. Together, with the upgraded powers of the Dragon of Metal, you can do even greater things."

Jack trembled, nervously as the mysterious temple master looked in his direction. "There is no need for you to perform your second level attack alone," Master Fung tried to comfort him. "We will begin the five-element formation, and the words should come to you when it is your turn."

On the contrary, this only made the former evil genius even more nervous. _"The words will come to me" yeah right…_ he thought. _I'm going to say the wrong thing and look like an idiot, I just know it. _

"Typhoon Boom, Wind!" Rai called, somehow knowing that he had to start this off. As he clapped his hands together, white billowing gusts sprang up around him. Then, he simply jumped to the side, and squatted in an awkward position, with his hands upturned.

_Or I'm going to jump in at the wrong time… _Jack glanced around, wondering if it was his turn, but Omi seemed to be taking the next turn.

"Tornado Strike, Water!" the little bald monk yelled, and turrets of water began twirling and twisting around his body as he posed. He jumped on top of Rai's hands, and stood there, with his feet apart, and his arms outstretched.

_Or I'll jump into the wrong position and screw the whole thing up… I hope I don't have to stand on top of anyone else…_

"Judallet Flip, Fire!" Kimiko cried before the worried Jack could even wonder if he was next. Flames ignited all around the Japanese girl, and she catapulted from the grassy ground, flipping around in midair, and landing, acrobatically in a handstand on top of Omi's head.

_Oh, gosh, what am I supposed to do! _Jack frantically looked around. If he wasn't up now, he was definitely next.

"Seismic Kick, Earth!" Clay called, stomping the ground, as brown fissures and craggy rocks popped up. He fell into place on the left side of the Rai-Omi-Kimiko totem pole, holding his arms and legs out to make points of what everyone could now see was some kind of star.

Now Jack knew he needed to copy Clay on the opposite side to complete the shape, but…what was he supposed to say? Complete silence filled the area as he tried to figure it out. Well, it had to be two words, followed by 'Metal'…

"C'mon, Spicer, we ain't got all day!" Clay called, glancing back at him.

"Knees…getting…weak…" Rai grunted under the combined weight of Omi and Kimiko in his hands. Neither of them weighed that much, but together they weighed about as much as someone like Clay.

Now, Master Fung figured he'd have to step in. "Jack…" he called out to the panicked goth boy. "Relax you mind…now, what do you think of when you think of your element?"

Jack took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to follow those instructions. _My element…metal…what do I think of when I think of metal… _Thinking about metal only made him think of his robot army. The various Jack-bots were flying around, trying to get in the way of the other Xiaolin Warriors. In his mind, he saw Kimiko kicking one, and it crashed to the floor. The four of them were trashing all of the robots, and one of them near the back just exploded all by itself. Yeah…that was it…he could almost express it in words…

"Explosion Crash, Metal!" Jack finally called, and he felt his body being jerked into the right position. He flew up, a silvery metal backdrop appearing behind him. Then, he jumped back down, harnessing the shining power and slamming it against the ground. It erupted in a loud booming noise, and metal spikes and large plates shaped like yin-yangs slammed into the peaceful green grass. Afterwards, he managed to pull himself out of the attack, and the magical energy seemed to draw him right up on the right side of the "totem pole". He instantly popped back up into position, his arms extended and made peace signs, with one leg out, completing the star shape.

Somehow, the same phrase passed through all of the Xiaolin Warriors' minds at once. "Dragon X Penté Formation!" they called in unison.

Master Fung smiled. Sure, it had taken a little prodding on Jack's part, but they had done it…the most powerful attack that Xiaolin Apprentices could ever perform, the Dragon X Penté Formation. "Well done, well done," he complimented, stepping forward to break up the formation, since they didn't know what to do next yet.

"Ooof," Rai grunted, glad to get Omi and Kimiko off his shoulders.

"Jack Spicer, your new attack is really chilly!" Omi cried in excitement.

"Is that a good thing?" Jack asked, raising his bushy eyebrows.

"I think he meant cool," Kimiko clarified. "At least _I _thought it was cool!"

"Oh, brother," Rai complained under his breath. He knew that they were a couple now, but it got a little annoying when they were being affectionate with each other like that. In fact, the two of them were hugging and snuggling right in the middle of the yard.

Rai had a girlfriend too- another Brazilian girl named Leandra who was a bird handler in his circus troupe. They still talked to each other over the phone once in a while, and chatted on the internet, when either of the techies would let him use a computer. Still, it wasn't the same as if she was right beside him, and that was the real reason Rai was jealous of Jack. Jealous of Jack Spicer! Who'd ever think?

As the Dragons broke up and scurried off to take on their truckload of chores, Dojo and Master Fung looked at each other. One step closer…still, they would have to work quickly in order to be ready for the upcoming challenges. There was a powerful force awakening…and the Xiaolin Dragons would have to be ready to combat it.

The two of them weren't exactly sure what this evil essence was, but it was definitely close, and definitely strong…perhaps even stronger than Wuya. Much training was in order, and from the way things were going, perhaps 2,000 years of darkness couldn't be as terrible as the impending series of events…

"Do you think they'll need the power boost?" Dojo slowly asked his old companion. "I'm afraid to think what might happen if…"

But, Master Fung nodded, gravely, staring out into the distance, even to the very border of the Xiaolin Temple. They would need their extra, forbidden powers, if they hoped to have any chance of defeating this extra, forbidden evil force.


	2. New Elements

There are hopefully no real issues with this chapter, aside from one little Chase Young reference. I know that the thing with Marylyn and Jack goes kind of quick, but I didn't want to linger on it too long. By the way, the yin-yang tree from last chapter appears in S2- the episode "Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil" I believe. It's just a brief background addition, like all the yin-yangs…

Wow! Reviews! Yay! Thanks everybody! Yup, from last chapter, "Jinshu" means "Metal", but she won't appear for a very, very long time. That's a little thing we like to call "foreshadowing". Reviews make uphalf of my motivation…so keep reviewing!

(-)

Chapter 2: New Elements

Blackness. Everything was dark and pitch black. Unfortunately, with his new rank came new responsibilities…and more difficult training sessions. So on this day, everyone was a bit nervous. This was Jack's first day with a blindfold, and everyone knew how much he freaked out when he couldn't see anything. He was still trying to do a pretty good job, and so far they'd been no fatal accidents.

Kimiko was sliding beneath a series of chopping blades, while Omi was slipping easily past a closing wall challenge, and Clay and Rai were making their way across a long path of skinny logs over a painful spike floor. Jack was slowly struggling through his test, dodging flaming torches as they came swinging down at him.

"Ah!" Not for long. Suddenly, a surprise torch flew down from the top, immediately igniting Jack's already flaming hair. He instinctively began to run around and straight out of the obstacle course in a panic.

"Tornado Strike, Water!" Omi called, sensing the disturbance. The columns of water twisted around him, and shot forward. Then, a second later, Jack was drenched in magical water, and frustratingly ripping the mask from his eyes.

"Darn it!" he exclaimed. "I just can't do this blindfold thing. It's impossible."

"Don't say that," Kimiko comforted him, while continuing to run the gauntlet. "You'll be able to do it eventually… I mean, look at how far you've come already. You're a Xiaolin Apprentice now!"

"Yes, you must have some faith in yourself!" Omi cried, bobbing up next to him, zipping through the rest of his challenge and taking his blindfold off.

Jack just sighed when he witnessed the little monk's lightning-fast reflexes. "Yeah, don't worry. I had too much on my mind. That's always my problem. I'll have to start over." He pulled his hood up to hide his singed hair, and turned back to the obstacle course.

_There he goes again_, Rai thought behind his blindfold. _Spicer, getting all the attention again.__ It almost makes me want to…_ "Augh!" His mind distracted, Rai's foot slipped on the last log and his whole body flew forward to the grassy ground in front of it.

Master Fung just stood in the distance, putting on his best fed-up bulldog face. This was hopeless, especially with the slacker twins, as he'd soon nicknamed Rai and Jack. Clay and Kimiko finished up their blindfold obstacle courses and came flipping gracefully to the ground right in front of Master Fung. "Omi, Kimiko, Clay, good job," he complimented. "And…_you two_…"

Rai got to his feet and grinned sheepishly, along with Jack. "I…I'm just not used to the blindfold. When I can't see anything, my mind starts to wander…" Jack tried to explain.

"Of course," Master Fung advised. "Imagination is your greatest power, but it can also be your greatest enemy if you let it be."

"And his catching on fire distracted _me_," Rai accused. "I started thinking about…other things."

Master Fung sighed, for the umpteenth time that day, placing his bald head in his hand. "I'm afraid if you two don't improve soon, I'll have to start with the private lessons again."

"_Private lessons_?" Rai cried. "I don't need private lessons! I've been here a lot longer than Jack has!"

Jack turned to glare at him, but Master Fung spoke next preventing an impending argument. "There is no exception," he explained. "You all must be at your very best. In fact, Kimiko, Omi, Clay, I may already begin the search with you."

The three best Xiaolin Warriors looked to each other in confusion. "Search?" Omi asked. "What search? What are we searching for?"

Master Fung and Dojo once again looked at each other. "Should we tell them now?" Dojo wondered aloud.

"Yes. I suppose they have to find out soon anyway."

The five Xiaolin Dragons looked around at each other. Once again, they were about to learn something new about their powers, or about the ancient legacy of the Xiaolin Temple, and from the sound of things, it had to be something important. "Now what…?" Clay softly said to himself.

"Like I said earlier, we've been studying the ancient writings…" Dojo began, slipping from Master Fung's shoulders and reappearing on the ground in front of them a few seconds later. "Because of this weird feeling I've been having lately… It's not a Shen-Gong-Wu, and it's not anything pertaining to Wuya…we think it may be some other force we overlooked."

"Chase Young?" Omi immediately guessed, but the little dragon was already shaking his long, scaly head.

"No, I wouldn't be able to sense anything about him, since he's still in the realm of the living…why do you think I allowed myself to be captured?"

"Because you wanted to stay there," Rai stated.

"Never mind," Dojo quickly brushed it off. "What's important is that there's something else out there besides Wuya…and it's coming…and it's big and powerful…even more powerful than Wuya…and it may already be here!" By now, the nervous little dragon was running around in a circle and pulling at his long, curved head scales.

The Xiaolin Warriors stared at him in exasperation. Something more powerful than Wuya? That just seemed impossible. Besides, sometimes Dojo overreacted to stressful situations. They didn't believe a word of what came out of his snout at first, until Master Fung picked up where he'd left off.

"So, needless to say, we need you to focus and become stronger to fight against this force. In my research, I discovered a few ancient facts buried deep in the writings. It appeared that Grand Master Dashi never wanted us to find them."

"How come _Dojo _didn't know about them from when he worked alongside Dashi?" Rai asked, shooting a critical glare down at the panicked dragon.

"Raimundo, it's been over a thousand years. There is no way Dojo can remember everything from that time."

"We could go back in time," Jack told them, with a grin. "I've still got my machine, and you've got the Eye of Dashi…"

"And what about the return trip?" Kimiko added, crossing her arms. She had to be extra cautious of his crazy schemes, especially now that he was at the temple.

"Oh…uh, I'll work on that," Jack sheepishly replied. He'd once again forgotten that itsy bitsy detail.

"Well, there's no way of knowing _everything_," Master Fung explained. "But from the hidden recordings, we were able to at least figure out a bit about this new enemy and how to defeat it… It is another one of the Heylin clan. It was said this force desired too much power within the ranks, so Wuya banished it with her strongest black magic…"

"But wait a minute," Rai interrupted again. "If Wuya banned that thing with her own magic, how can it be stronger than her?"

Master Fung was silent for an uncomfortable moment. "…Its power had been growing over the years," he at last answered. "The only hope I saw for you is if you obtain your true, full powers and find the Element Orbs."

"Element Orbs?" Omi asked, holding up his favorite, round, blue Shen-Gong-Wu. "…Like the Orb of Tornami is linked to my water element…?"

"No," Master Fung told him. "These are much different orbs. Even if you advance to the highest level that you can reach and become full-fledged Xiaolin Dragons, you will not have power to match those of the original five. The original five Xiaolin Dragons were Master Dashi's disciples, and who helped him build the Shen-Gong-Wu in the battle against Wuya, the other Heylin witches, and the Spicer family. Unfortunately, in possession of all the power they had, some of the original five turned over to the dark side and tried to overthrow Dashi. This is why the Element Orbs exist. Dashi and the other remaining disciples created five orbs, one for each of the elements, in which to place their extra, unneeded power, since Dashi now recognized that having too much power would only corrupt the hearts of future Xiaolin Dragons. These Element Orbs were specially hidden throughout the world, where he hoped they would never be found. You must each find your corresponding Element Orb to release your true, full powers. That is the only way to defeat this enemy. Shen-Gong-Wu alone will never do the trick."

"But…what if some of us get corrupted by the power?" Omi asked, shooting a deliberate glance over at the slacker twins.

"That is what I am here for," Master Fung assured him. "To make you pure enough to be unaffected."

Kimiko, Omi, and Clay continued to stare, and eventually Rai and Jack got the hint and rushed off to take a dip in the cleansing fountain.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a very important phone call to make," Master Fung said, turning away from the three of them.

They stood clumped together on the lawn for a few moments, staring in wonder and nervousness at the task looming before them.

(-)

"So this is your headquarters?"

The CFPU meeting was finally over, and now Bob Sanderson was left sweeping up the mess on the floor from magic spells gone wrong, and too many cups of punch. Perhaps he shouldn't serve refreshments at their next meeting. Why did he anyway? This was serious business; this wasn't some after-school club. The teenage boy looked up and ran a hand over his dark bluish bunches of hair, tied down in cornrows. This was the first sentence the elegant brown-haired witch had spoken to him since their arrival, and he was slightly nervous, since he had wanted to impress her.

"Yeah…I know, it's not too fancy, but in my opinion it's better to have a plain headquarters, so it'll look inconspicuous, you know?"

At last, Shésui smiled a bit, a twisted, wicked kind of smile that made Bob shiver when he stared into it for too long. "So…do you know about our entire legacy?" she continued. "About out founders and our history as sorceresses, our followers, and their origins…about out struggle against that fool of a master, Dashi?"

"Uh…no," Bob admitted. "We only studied your banishment techniques for our own benefit. Some of us, like me, have started to practice some of your other teachings as well, but…"

"Ah, yes. Banishment." Shésui casually changed the subject. "I'm quite familiar with that. In fact, I _was_ banished. It was that imbecile, Wuya. Both Wuya and I were next in power to becoming the leader of the Heylin force, but she was jealous of my strength and good looks, and banished me from the world, trapping me in that Wheel of Quan Lao. …I'll get her back someday…" When she smiled the next time, her tongue darted out, and Bob could've sworn that she had a forked tongue.

"Well, I know about Wuya. She wrote the method books we study out of…but I've never seen you in any of the writings."

"Of course not!" Shésui roared, rising from her perch on the tire in the corner. "Because Wuya made sure I wouldn't be meddling in what she thought were "her" territories! Ohhhhh, I can't wait to get my hands on her! She's still here in this world; I can feel her presence. I…"

The powerful young lady suddenly froze, with one fist in the air. Bob stared at her for a moment. She was so beautiful in that slinky blue dress…she really was out of place in an old garage like this. The dingy plastic walls, piles of broken junk, and broken concrete floor helped to extenuate her magical aura of power. For a serene moment, she closed her eyes and turned her head back, as if reminiscing about happy times past. Bob blinked in awe of her beauty as her waving brown hair danced in the wind behind her.

"Oh…yes, I'm sure of it now." Her peaceful image was shattered as soon as that low, hissing voice slipped from her mouth and her snakelike tongue flickered out. "Wuya is in this world. In fact, she is being held prisoner inside of an object of our making…at the Xiaolin Temple!"

"The where?" Bob skeptically asked, turning to continue his cleanup.

"Xiaolin Temple!" Shésui yelled. "It's the place where our enemies reside! It's where they train to defeat us!"

"So it's out enemies' headquarters," Bob clarified, finally finishing his sweeping and dumping the pile of dust out of the dustpan into a nearby trash can. "So the great Wuya is being held hostage by the enemy! We have to bust her out of there!" He jumped back up, trying to look tough and confident as he said it.

"Hold on there, squirt," Shésui replied, putting up a thin, yet powerful hand. "You'd think I'd want to just set that little traitor free? Oh, no. I'm going to the Xiaolin Temple to get my revenge! My senses tell me that wherever she's being held hostage, only her spirit remains. Hah. Never realized how dense she really was. By using the Wheel of Quan Lao on me, she also preserved my individual body. You saw me as a ghost earlier, but I have the power to switch between both at my command."

Bob blinked again and looked his strange companion straight in the face. If he looked close enough, he could actually see traces of the ghostly entity she'd been when he'd first released her from that golden ring he now knew was the Wheel of Quan Lao. There were actually dots deep beneath her glowing blue eyes…the same dots that had covered her bulbous eyes earlier, in plus signs. Bob slowly looked down to the silver, sparkling medallion that he always wore around his neck to signify his authority as CFPU leader. It had the exact same dot symbol engraved in its shiny surface. Chills traveled down his back as he stared into its depths. Did this mean…that they were destined to find each other?

Shésui didn't seem to be having the same feelings, however. She closed her eyes again and concentrated on the vision that she was once again receiving from some unknown power. "But first…I need to devise a good strategy. You'll help me with this, won't you, squirt?"

"Yes, of course!" Bob eagerly agreed. "I can't believe it…getting to contact the real Heylin sorceresses… I'll help you get your revenge on Wuya, and take over the rest of the world!" Though it was grating on his nerves, Bob continued to ignore being called a "squirt" and just concentrated on trying to be a worthy partner.

Shésui, however, wasn't listening, or even looking at him, obviously concentrating on her vision and trying to make up a plan of action. "Do you know anyone named…J…Jake? Jake Splicer? No, it has to be a Spicer descendant or something…"

"Spicy Pizza Head?" Bob suddenly remembered, his eyes lighting up.

"…So you know this obscure relative of the Spicer family?" Shésui asked, at last opening her dotted eyes again.

"Well, not _really_," Bob admitted. "He was just some freaky nerd kid who was in my class in second grade. I used to pick on him every day to make my friends laugh. …If I knew where he was, I probably would have already banished him by now, but he just sort of disappeared off the face of the planet by himself."

"He's at the Xiaolin Temple," Shésui informed him. "And I sense his former connections with Wuya…" Slowly, that same, twisted smug grin spread onto her face again, and her serpentine tongue flickered out in anticipation. It was a plan now.

"Bobby," she addressed her new partner, and he was surprised that she even remembered his name. "I'm going to need some…special assistance for this." She looked into the entranced gangster boy's wide brown eyes and bared her teeth in a grin for a second, displaying her fangs. "…But you won't mind being my little "companion" for a while, now will you?"

(-)

"Meet me at the central chamber at 3:00," he'd said with an unusually secretive smile. The image of the old Master Fung, looking over at them with that expression was ever present in the minds of the five Xiaolin Dragons. Usually, the stony man never kept secrets from them, and he'd never had any surprises for them. He wasn't that interesting a guy.

Everyone was gathered in a small, unoccupied room a little ways down the right hall. Omi was mindlessly practicing his moves while he was waiting, Kimiko and Jack were fiddling with various gadgets at the same time, and Clay was creating a sort of melancholy atmosphere by slowly playing a harmonica.

Rai, however, was leaning against the door, with his head back, impatiently. "What the heck would he possibly have to hide from us?" he suspiciously stated. "I think that's a little strange."

"Maybe it's got something to do with the Element Orbs," Kimiko suggested, glancing up from her cell phone for a second. "If he's found one of them, he can't let us know, right? We have to find them by ourselves. Maybe he'll tell four of us, and we have to help the other one find his Orb."

"I highly doubt it," Omi entered the conversation, landing on his black slipper-covered feet. "The Orbs were never meant to be found. I don't believe Master Fung would be so excited about uncovering them…"

Fortunately, before there could be any further deliberation, the old temple leader in question stepped back into the room, still smiling at their confusion. "There's someone here whom I would like you to meet."

Rai immediately jumped up, but the others were a bit more hesitant as they fell into a clump, walking behind him. At last, Master Fung halted when they reached the main, red-carpeted hall, and the chatting behind him stopped as well. "Mary…" he called. "They're here."

Standing on the steps at the end of the wall, was a tall, trim woman in a long red temple uniform just like theirs, except she had a small jacket like Master Fung. She rose to greet them, and as the master led them closer, they could all get a better look at her face. It looked sharp and powerful, yet her warm, friendly green eyes still washed over them. Her most striking feature, was obviously her waist-length, orange-red, wavy hair, which had just a hint of gray mixed in it.

Those dazzling green eyes were washing over them now, scanning the five Xiaolin Dragons as if searching for something. They all looked up at her with strange, silent respect. Though they were sure they'd never seen her before in their lives, she looked uncannily familiar.

"My young Dragons…" Master Fung began, addressing them again. "…I'd like you to meet my good friend and former pupil…Marylyn Orre."

_Marylyn Orre…_ the first four Dragons thought. They looked up at the stained glass painting of this very same person above their heads. _Wasn't she…_

"…_Mom_?" Jack gently whispered in disbelief. She'd left him when he was only three, so he scarcely remembered her, but this was definitely her. Why would she suddenly reappear out of nowhere like this?

At last, Marylyn recognized her son, and broke into a run down the stairs to greet him. While all this confusion and skepticism was running through Jack's head, his mother swooped down and pulled him into a tight hug. "So it _is _you! My son!" she cried, her eyes nearly tearing up from the emotional moment. "Oh, I thought I'd never see you again… Gosh, you look so _different_! My little Jackie's all grown up!"

"Maybe on the _outside_," Rai teased, and Jack shot him death glares from over Marylyn's shoulder.

Meanwhile, the emotional woman continued squeezing him and talking in a fast, overwhelmed voice. "Wow, you really look more like Henry now. Except for your hair. Why'd you dye it? I always thought you had such cute orange curls… And what's with the clothes? Oh, no. This is all my fault. My absence has turned you into one of those 'gothic' kids, hasn't it? Please, tell me you haven't tried to kill yourself!"

"No, of course not, geez, Mom!" Jack finally managed to rip himself out of Marylyn's grasp. "Will you please not embarrass me in front of my friends?" _Not like I haven't already been embarrassed in front of them ten million other times,_ his mind argued.

"Oh…" the former Dragon of Metal replied, her brilliant green eyes settling on Omi, Kimiko, Clay, and Rai. "I'm sorry, honey. I was just so excited to finally meet you…"

"And why do you suddenly appear now?" Jack continued, his anger welling up at the sound of her casual, innocent-sounding voice. "You abandoned me for eleven years, suddenly pop back into existence now and expect me to be perfectly fine with that? Where were you before, when I _needed_ you? I know you were afraid of Dad's ancient evil magic, but why couldn't you have taken me with you when you left? You could have at least called me…or sent a letter of an e-mail." He crossed his arms and turned away, to emphasize his point.

The other Xiaolin Warriors, and even Master Fung were staring at the scene with a bit of apprehension. They'd always figured that Jack would be happy to be reunited with his mother. He'd certainly seemed happy when he'd first learned about her.

Marylyn looked over, her robust face scrunched into a worried, regretful one. "…Jack, honey…" she softly spoke again, taking a cautious step towards him. "I'm very sorry. When I was leaving, Henry ripped me away from you. As soon as I'd learned of his connection with the Heylin witches, he'd also learned that I was the Dragon of Metal. And I knew afterwards that if I'd even tried to contact you, he would have destroyed anything before it could reach you…even e-mails. I couldn't attempt to return to the house to visit you, because I would've been destroyed on the spot. I'm here now because of your move here. And this way I knew that Henry hadn't made you into some wicked replica of himself…although it seems that he was working on it."

As his mother continued to try to explain things to him, a foggy, yet strangely detailed memory wandered back into Jack's mind. He could remember feeling a pair of tight arms around him…his father's arms, he recognized. Useless tears spilled down his cheeks as he cried out at the red-haired figure growing smaller and smaller in the distance. It was Marylyn, but in his three-year-old mind, this figure only registered as "Mommy."

"MOMMEEEEEEEE!" he shrieked and tried to wriggle his way out of his father's arms. The man kept him firmly pressed against his arms and the silence around him only enhanced the fear and confusion in his small brain.

Jack blinked a few times and thought about this for a while. Sure, it had been frustrating knowing that he had a mother somewhere out there, but never knowing about her, but… "Well, at least you're here now," he realized, glancing back over at her. "It's better to know you now, instead of never knowing you at all."

"That's right," Marylyn replied with a smile. "And now we can get to know each other all over again. So…why _did _you dye your hair?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "I just _like _it like this, okay? And don't start on my clothes again."

"Oh…okay," Marylyn uneasily replied. "So you like all that punk rock and heavy metal stuff? Er…you don't have any _body peircings_ do you!"

"No!" Jack cried. "Will you just stop asking so many questions?"

"I'm just concerned," the woman casually answered, stepping up and putting an arm around him. "Those things are very bad for your health. They're disgusting, anyway; I can't see why anyone would want a metal bar sticking through their tongue, or up their nose…" As the mother and son continued to argue, Master Fung and the other Xiaolin Warriors shared a few smiles. It looked like everything would work out fine after all.

(-)

"_Hyyaaaaaaaaaa_!" Well, there was one thing certain about Marylyn Orre's reappearance- she was somehow motivating the Dragons to work to their full extent. Omi relentlessly pulverized a dummy with flying kicks, hoping to impress the legendary former temple savior, while Kimiko was performing flips in another corner, looking to display herself as the next formidable female Xiaolin Dragon. Raimundo was doing crazy handsprings and splits right in front of "Mistress Marylyn". She seemed to be trying to ignore him. Meanwhile, Jack tried to hide himself in the shadows of the furthest corner, since he didn't want his famous kung-fu mother to see how bad at kung-fu he was. The only one that didn't seem affected by her presence was Clay, dutifully performing his tasks in the center.

Marylyn was supervising their training session today instead of Master Fung. Since she would be staying here from now on, she'd volunteered to give the Xiaolin Dragons some pointers for him. Today, however, she hadn't even said anything yet, standing there with a slightly similar smirk curling her lips.

"Aren't you going to help us or something?" Rai at last asked when he grew tired of flipping around and trying to get a good view of her legs.

"Are you done showing off yet?" Marylyn asked, intelligently.

"Uh…yeah, I'm done now," Rai admitted

Omi and Kimiko paused for a moment also to see what was going on, both out of breath. "We're done too," the simultaneously relinquished.

"Okay, everyone," Marylun at last took charge. "You come too, um…was is Clay? And Jackie, honey, stop hiding in the corner. You should have more confidence than that."

"You're not helping," Jack muttered as he trudged into the light, ashamed with being called "Jackie honey". Soon, they were all gathered around the embodiment of the stained glass image, staring in wonder up at her.

"Now," Marylyn simply stated. "Let me demonstrate the actions of a real Xiaolin Dragon." Then, she flipped into a series of swift, flowing movements. She moved so gracefully and quickly, it was almost hard to see her. In a moment, their test dummy was flying across the room with one powerful, lightning-fast kick. The Xiaolin Dragons watched, as if in a daze. Rai seemed especially taken with her elegance.

"…Hey, Jack…" he whispered to his embarrassed companion. "…Did I ever tell you that your Mom is hot?"

"Er…thanks?" Jack replied, not even believing that this flying woman before him was really his mother.

Finally, Marylyn landed softly back in front of them, smiling. Rai nearly melted into the red carpeting. "In the next two weeks, I hope to have you all performing up to the level at which I have just performed. Fung tells me that you are all on the verge of finding your Element Orbs. So it seems I came in the perfect time to shape you all up for the event!"

Four of the Warriors glanced, nervously at each other, while Rai continued to stare, googly-eyed. "I'm in love with Jack Spicer's mom," he began to sing, to the tune of "Stacey's Mom". "Jack Spicer's mom has got it goin' on. She's all I want, and I've waited for so long- ooofff!"

Kimiko promptly elbowed him in the chest, cutting the song off. "Shut up, Rai! You have a girlfriend, you know." Marylyn only smirked, amusedly to herself. She got this sort of thing a lot.

"Sorry to interrupt the training session!" a loud, familiar voice cried, and Dojo came scurrying into the room. He froze when he got a look at them. "Or…sorry to interrupt the _not training _session, but…a new Shen-Gong-Wu has activated!"

"Cool," Kimiko commented. "What's this one?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Dojo replied, scratching the back of his head with his claw.

"But…you always know the identity of the Shen-Gong-Wu you are sensing!" Omi objected. "Well…most of the time."

"I can't figure it out; it's a weird sensation," Dojo told them. "I don't know everything, you know."

"Yeah, we learned that a long time ago," Rai said, breaking out of his Marylyn Orre trance.

"So, get going," Marylyn urged them. "I've never gone after Shen-Gong-Wu like you kids, so I know what an important job it is."

"So you've never done a Xiaolin Showdown?" Omi asked, with a little gasp.

Marylyn shook her head. "Nope. In fact, the next time you find one, I'd like to come along as an observer. Right now you need to hurry up and go get this one."

"Do you at least know where it's located?" Rai demanded, staring down at Dojo.

"Er…it's in the US," the little dragon tried to describe. "…Central region…kinda Northish…"

"Sure, that tells us a lot. So we'll just have to scour the whole North region of the Central USA to find it?"

"No…wait…" Dojo concentrated and tried to get an exact city. "Chi…Chi…Chicago?"

"Chicago!" Jack and Marylyn said at the same time. It was a rare moment when they were in perfect agreement, and the shocked, reluctant expressions on their faces were almost identical. "Well, have fun, honey," Marylyn continued, patting Jack on the head and pushing him over towards the other Xiaolin Warriors. He growled in agitation, but turned around to face them.

They didn't know, but the Spicers had once lived in the Chicago vicinity, and Jack had actually spent the first eight years of his life there. It was a place he hoped he'd never return to.

Dojo enlarged himself, making sure to aim his head for a door this time, while his future passengers scurried through the back corridors of the temple, grabbing Shen-Gong-Wu and supplies from the vault and their rooms. It was always a good idea to have more than one Shen-Gong-Wu with you so you could choose which one to wager if there was a Showdown. Dojo was s bit surprised with the large sacks the Xiaolin Dragons hopped onto his back with. It looked like he'd have a bit of extra weight to lug to Chicago.

"Hold on tight," he warned, preparing to take off with more force than usual. They clung to the dragon's smooth scales, but Rai glanced up to wave down to Marylyn right before they shot off. Kimiko frustratingly reached over and grabbed him so he wouldn't fall off.

A few hours later, they were bobbing along over the Pacific Ocean, and everyone looked regretfully back at the coast of California as it appeared on the horizon. Too bad they weren't going there…

For a moment, Jack considered just jumping off and flying back to China. He'd have to stay with his mother for a while until they got back, but it was still better than going anywhere in Illinois. Unfortunately, the dragon underneath him was too fast, and soon they were landing behind a giant building in the city.

Dojo quickly shrunk when everyone was off, since there were people everywhere in the city, and it would be very easy to be spotted.

"So where exactly in Chicago _is_ this Wu?" Rai at last asked, looking around in annoyance.

"Well, I'm not sure…" Dojo said, sitting up straight and trying to receive a locating sense. "Wait…it's…this way!" he suddenly cried, pointing a claw-like finger down a road to the left. "…I think."

Kimiko stepped in that direction, scooping up their confused little guide and hiding him in an outside pocket of her new pink purse. Omi, Rai, and Clay began to follow her, but they hadn't made more than two steps when Jack commanded them to halt.

"_Now_ what?" Clay's Southern accent rumbled out. Even his calm, unaffected demeanor had begun to be rattled by Jack's constant whining.

"What is it, Jack?" Kimiko asked, in a slightly softer, concerned voice as she turned around. "You don't think this is the right way?"

"No, no," he quickly informed them, with a mysterious smile. "I just can't let you go off hunting for Shen-Gong-Wu without introducing you to my new Shen-Gong-Wu-finding gear!"

Rai, Omi, and Clay all rolled their eyes as Jack reached into the sack he'd brought with him and began pulling out a stack of machinery. "First off…" he proudly announced. "…I've got HeliPacks for everyone!"

An instant later, he was rushing madly around, clipping the devices onto the backs of his teammates, remembering to save the smallest one for Omi. Rai growled to himself as he felt his arms suddenly being forced into arm slots. It looked like he had no choice in this matter, because he would have much rather not wear one of these branded evil devices.

Jack finished and fastened the last one over himself. "So how do you like them?" he expectantly urged. "I redesigned the clasp based on your symbol thingy. You know, the one with the coiled dragon trying to eat a star?"

"It's not a _star_," Omi took offense. "And the dragon's not _eating_ it."

"Well, whatever," Jack brushed it off. "It's some kind of Xiaolin Temple symbol, right?"

Kimiko studied her HeliPack with mild interest, while Clay shrugged his shoulders in his, uncomfortably.

"…And now for the headsets!" Jack cried, brandishing a rack of wireless headphones. He did the same with these, shoving them over his teammates' ears, whether they wanted him to or not. _Well_…Rai thought as Jack shoved a pair on him. _At least these could be useful._ It was strange that Omi, who'd needed the smallest HeliPack, needed the largest headset. "These are the new patented Jack Spicer Insta-Communication Anywhere Headsets! …Or JSICAH for short."

"Do you have to put your name into everything you build?" Rai asked in annoyance.

"Uh…no," Jack answered, as if he'd never noticed it before. "HeliPack' doesn't have my name in it, does it?"

Rai groaned. "That's because its original name was probably "the Jack Spicer Human Transport Helicopter Pack"," he added under his breath.

"These will allow us to communicate with each other at any time or any distance on Earth," Jack continued to explain as he fitted one over his own head and pulled the microphone down. "As an added bonus, they also play music too! …So we can also ignore each other at long distances." He smiled at his own joke.

"Yup," Rai agreed. "I'm going to be doing a lot of that."

"Okay," Dojo added, popping out of Kimiko's purse. "Can we get on with the Shen-Gong-Wu recovering yet? Or do you have some other contraptions to weigh us down with?"

"Relax, Dojo," Kimiko said, poking him back into the pouch. "I think this will help us a lot. She pressed a button and hovered a little above the ground for a moment, testing out her HeliPack.

"So now that you're his girlfriend, you're going to start _defending_ him all the time?" Rai argued. "The cake thing was bad enough!"

"By golly!" Clay cried, finally getting a look at himself in the reflecting surface of a nearby building. "I've been Spiced!"

"Whoa!" Omi tried to activate his mini-HeliPack and went flying through the air, unable to control it.

Jack just stepped back and watched the chaos in satisfaction. He'd have to give them a little while to adjust…

(-)

At last, the Xiaolin Warriors were actually making progress. After Jack had instructed them on how to properly use their new equipment, they'd sped off down the street. Surprisingly enough, Dojo was actually getting clear readings, and he would point right or left whenever they needed to turn.

Chicago was a very big city, and the Warriors came to appreciate their new HeliPacks, because if they hovered close enough to the ground amidst a crowd of people, no one would notice. Though it was pretty hard not to notice a group of five young teens, four of which in Chinese robes, and all wearing strange backpacks and headsets. How could anyone not notice a Japanese rich girl wearing eye shadow, a Brazilian acrobat with a medallion, a blond Texan in a cowboy hat, a bald young monk, and a former evil genius in swirling goggles? At this moment, they were all slightly hovering to rest their feet above a street corner.

"It's here!" Dojo suddenly cried, jumping excitedly out of Kimiko's purse. Kimiko quickly shoved him back in, so people wouldn't see. When the few heads that had turned around fell back into position, she yanked him out again.

"What, is it around here?" Omi asked, hovering a bit closer.

"It's straight up ahead, I'm sure of it," Dojo whispered as they gathered around him. "It's not _here_ exactly, but it's very, very close… Ooooh…and it's very, very _weird_… It's kind of strange to say this, but…I don't think it's a Shen-Gong-Wu after all…"

"Then what _is _it?" Kimiko asked, in wonder.

"Dojo," Rai skeptically criticized. "Please don't tell me we came all the way here just because you got into out ice cream freezer again."

"You have an ice cream freezer?" Jack cried in amazement, and made a mental note to raid it the next time the others were out.

"No!" Dojo hissed. "It's not just a stomachache, I'm sure. There's some sort of energy here…"

(-)

High above the little corner, a couple of shadowy figures sat perched near the edge of a tall building. One seemed feminine, its long wavy hair dancing in the slight breeze, while the other was tall, with one hand on the hulking machine beside him. It was a wonder he'd been able to get the thing up here.

_Such cute little ants_, the lady thought, gazing down at the crowd of people huddled on the corner. She clearly made out the shining bald head, cowboy hat, and crayon red hair among them. There were three. She'd have to find her target afterwards. _It's a pity we have to exterminate them. _"It's time to let loose the hounds," she spoke up. "Everything in position, Gerald?"

The male figure nodded. It was unusual that Gerald, the same obsessive, Harley-riding CFPU member was suddenly so serious and cold. He pulled out a small cage containing one special, enlarging creature the organization had summoned yesterday. This had been part of their plan all along, but as Gerald held it over the edge of the building, he looked suspiciously around, wondering what had happened to Bob. Bob was usually at every one of these extermination sessions… Well, being here with their new partner was nice, too. On her signal, he let go of the cage's golden handle and it plummeted towards the ground.

"Excellent," Shésui hissed from his side. "I bid you a fond farewell, Gerald."

"…Farewell!" the boy cried, surprised and disappointed. He stared in immobilizing shock as she leaped down after the cage. …Just what was going on here!

(-)

"What's _that_?" someone in the Chicago crowd finally noticed the shiny cage as it came whooshing down from the sky. Mostly everyone ignored him, but as soon as it hit the floor, everyone immediately pulled their heads up, since it had erupted in a puff of smoke. A moment later, a gigantic dragon-like demon came rumbling out, its putrid green skin and blank, blazing eyes leering down at them all.

"What _is _that thing?" Kimiko questioned Dojo, pulling him out of her purse.

"All I know is that that is one _ugly_ dragon," Dojo replied. "…Almost makes me ashamed to be one."

"That's no help!" Rai yelled. "What if it attacks us?"

"Should we attack is back?" Omi anxiously asked. "The people…"

The threatening creature opened its mouth and shot a blast of fire at the crowd. Everyone screamed and those pedestrians that had caught on fire were rolling or dowsing themselves with water, frantically.

"Why that…" Kimiko began, rolling up her sleeves, angrily. "How dare that monster try to destroy the city with fire? I'll show that beast some _real_ fire power!"

Clay casually caught her arm before she stormed out from the crowd. "Calm yourself, Kimiko. Everyone will see you if you just rush out there and attack it."

"I don't care!" she yelled back at him. "This is a desperate situation, and…"

The monster prepared to shoot another blast, but before it could let it loose, and before Kimiko could attempt to stop it, a hard, low female voice called from the distance, so loud it almost seemed to echo around them. "_Ice_!"

In an instant, the monster was encased in a giant block of solid ice, and one short blow later, it shattered into a million pieces and disappeared once again.

The five Xiaolin Warriors and Dojo were obviously impressed by this showing, but when they finally tore their eyes away from the spectacle, they noticed that amazingly enough, every person around them also seemed to be frozen. They were frozen in time, stuck in one position, some even in mid-air, or with water suspended above their heads.

And standing in the middle of all this, exactly where the dragon monster had been earlier, was a young lady, smiling warmly over at them. "Why, hello there," she called. "Don't be afraid, you guys. I'm not going to hurt you."

The Xiaolin Warriors lowered themselves to the ground and cautiously approached this surprising stranger. "Who are you?" Omi chanced to ask when he drew close enough.

The girl's light brown, wavy hair gently blew in the breeze. At least the wind, it seemed, hadn't been frozen by her power. She was wearing a long blue, elaborate dress which clung to her figure, but her most striking feature was her sparkling blue eyes. Looking into those eyes always made you shiver. An odd white wisp was encircling her head, too fast for anyone to make out what it was. "My name is Shelly," the girl finally spoke up, and for a moment, a sort of joking smile flashed across her lips. "…I've been searching for you for a very long time. I'd heard of the Xiaolin Temple, but China is so far away, and I could never afford an airline ticket there. So, finally, you came to me! As you know now, I'm the Dragon of Ice."

"Dragon of _Ice?_" Rai cried. "There are even _more_ Xiaolin Dragons?"

"So _that_ was what that feeling was," Dojo said to himself. "The essence of a Xiaolin Dragon!"

"Well, I am pleased to meet you, Shelly," Omi said, sticking out his pointy hand. "I assume you will come back with us to the Xiaolin Temple."

"Of course," Shelly said, shaking the little monk's hand. "I can't wait to see the place! I'll bet it's really cool! …Oh," she suddenly looked back at the ball of light spinning around her and smiled. "I've forgotten one little detail. I'd like you also to meet my spirit partner, Bobby. Bobby, say hello."

The orb came to an abrupt halt, and now it could be clearly defined as a shining white, anomalous ghost. Its head was a bit pointed at one end for a nose, and the rest remained featureless, except for a pair of beady brown eyes and a strange blue splotch on the back of its head.

"Oh, how cute!" Kimiko commented. "Hello there, Bobby."

And while the Xiaolin Warriors stared at the little ghost, Shelly stepped back and studied them. This would be easier than she'd thought, especially with the way they were all acting now. _Yes_, she thought, in the secret recess of her mind. _I'll get what I want_. And as she smiled, secretly to herself, a forked tongue flickered its way out, swiping her lips in anticipation.


	3. A Fight for Texas

As with previous chapters, Xiaolin Showdown and all its stuff do not belong to me. Neither does Woo Jin Duraflex, whatever it is.

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT. This chapter contains spoilers for "The Black Vipers" episode, which the UK will not be getting just yet (It's not in the first 13.) Err…Jadebell, and anyone else who doesn't want anything spoiled for them will have to skip this chapter… I have to congratulate myself on actually writing something on Clay. He's alright, but I find him kind of boring to write about. But that's because I'm a Jack fan. Anyway, yes, there's some Clay focus here. Next chapter will be Kimiko… As well, this chapter features a made-up SGW called the Wu Jin Duraflex. The name doesn't belong to me. I just saw the name "Woo Jin Duraflex" on the plastic clasp of my backpack, and pictured Omi yelling that phrase while holding some object. I just changed "Woo" to "Wu". It might be a company or something, but whatever it is, I don't own it. From last chapter "Wheel of Quan Lao" means roughly "Wheel of the small, hoop net." Quan- circle, hoop, ring. Lao- small net.

Special thank-yous to Cole the Demon Hunter, DArkFEar, and Jadebell! Everyone else, get reviewing and I'll give you a special thank-you next chapter too!

(-)

Chapter 3: A Fight for Texas

On this mild summer night, Master Fung was standing just outside the Xiaolin Temple, his blue-and-white robes blowing gently in the breeze, which also caressed his bald head. Marylyn Orre stood contentedly beside him, clutching a packet of photographs which she was observing in the silvery moonlight. "They should be getting back soon," Fung commented. "It never takes very long for them to return, victorious or not."

Marylyn didn't seem to be paying attention. She shuffled though the pile of photos, smiling as she viewed each one. "Fung, I'm glad that you got Jack to come here. It's good for him to make some friends like these." She had been shocked earlier when she'd learned the truth- that her son had actually met the real Wuya and had been helping her to regain control over the world. In fact, she'd nearly fainted at the mere thought of it. Henry had never done anything like that, and they all knew how afraid she was of him. Thankfully, Master Fung had quickly explained that she had mainly just been using him.

"…Actually, he came to us all on his own after discovering his powers as the Dragon of Metal," Fung continued. "I'm not exactly sure what did it, but it had something to do with going into the future and wanting to change it."

"Well, that's good," Marylyn responded, although she wondered what in the world kind of future it could have been.

"Ah," Master Fung spoke up. "There they are now."

Indeed, they could both see the long outline of Dojo, winding through the clouds, but as the leader counted the shadowy figures on its top, he noticed that there were actually _six_ of them. "It seems we have a visitor," he added.

At last, the figures drew closer and closer, until the giant dragon was landing gently back on the patch of dirt in front of the steps. Kimiko and Omi were the first to jump off.

"Master Fung, Master Fung!" the excitable little monk cried, bounding up in front of him. "We've got a new partner! This is Shelly, the Dragon of Ice!"

Rai, Clay, and Jack slipped off next, and Rai held out his hand in a gentlemanlike fashion to help Shelly down. The gentle, brunette young lady smiled at him, took his hand, and hopped gracefully to the ground.

"I hope this doesn't cause a problem," she asked, her dazzling blue eyes growing large and pleading. "But I'd like to stay here at the temple with you."

"Dragon of _Ice_?" Master Fung said in surprise, hurrying over to get a good look at Shelly. He cocked his large head and studied her for a moment.

Marylyn stepped up to his side. "I don't remember there being a Dragon of Ice," she commented. "I thought the element Water also had the power to control Ice…"

"Well, it _could_ be a new addendum," Master Fung considered. "Such as Metal, which is normally controlled under the element Earth… Could I see you perform your attack for a moment, Shelly? I'll need to evaluate your powers before I know for sure."

"Of course," Shelly gladly complied, stepping up before the temple leaders. She curtsied for a brief, tranquil moment, and then summoned, "Ice!" A shiny, translucent barrier sprang up all around her, and glittering icebergs shot from out of nowhere, crashing to the ground with intense force.

"…Well, those certainly _look_ like true Xiaolin Dragon elemental powers."

"I've known about my powers and about this place for a long time now," Shelly explained as she stepped out of her attack. "I just could never find a way to get here. I'm not sure why your dragon guardian suddenly sensed me _now_. Perhaps he'd forgotten about my element altogether."

"Yes," Master Fung cautiously agreed. "Dojo _has_ been getting a bit lax lately." The now minimized dragon began to protest, but Master Fung simply continued right over him. "Have you obtained official permission from your parents?"

Shelly froze for a moment, taken by surprise. "Well…I didn't know that was a requirement. See, I don't have any parents. They all died a long time ago. I've been living by myself in Chicago for years."

"Wow, that must have been tough," Rai told her. He was familiar with the street life, but he'd never have been able to survive without his family there with him.

"Oh, it's no big deal," Shelly excused, "Life might have been tough…but I'm tougher!" She flexed her arm and flashed a smile at them. "And besides, it's not like I was _totally_ alone. That reminds me…" she turned back to Master Fung. "…Do you allow ghosts?"

"Ghosts?" the temple master questioned.

"Yeah…you know, spirits?" Shelly reached over her shoulder, and gently guided the little white orb in front of her and above her head, making the mysterious creature seem tangible. "This is my spirit partner, Bobby. We've been together ever since I was a little kid. In fact, he found me and helped me through that time when my parents died. …Please say you'll let him stay with me. He's perfectly harmless, I know. The poor thing can't even speak."

At her words, the blobby wisp flew up and began studying Master Fung, as if deciding if he was friend or foe. At last, he nodded to himself, and flew back over Shelly's shoulder.

"See? He'd friendly too, and it looks like he's decided he liked you."

"Uh…what if he decides he _doesn't_ like you?" Omi nervously asked.

"Then he'll just avoid you, that's all. He isn't capable of taking any aggressive action, even if he tried."

"Well, I suppose it's okay," Master Fung decided. "Just make sure that you don't cause any disturbances with him. Our other community members may not understand the nature of your companion."

"Sure," Shelly quickly consented. "You don't have to worry about any of that."

"I guess that settles it!" Marylyn cheerfully spoke up, holding out her arms. "Welcome to the Xiaolin Temple, Shelly!"

The other Xiaolin Warriors cheered and clapped for their new member. Kimiko was the first one to reach her side. "This is so cool!" she exclaimed. "I've been waiting for another female Xiaolin Warrior. This place is so overrun with guys, it's getting ridiculous. Sometimes a girl needs someone to sympathize with, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Shelly said, putting on another smile. "I can see why you're always so frustrated."

"C'mon, let's go find you a place to stay!" Kimiko called in happiness. She was so happy that she didn't even find it suspicious that Shelly knew about her frustration. The excited Japanese girl grabbed Shelly by the arm and forced her into a run towards the temple doors off into the distance.

The four guys trudged after, sharing similar feelings of confusion. Omi pulled out his "Ancient Guide to Females". He'd need to study up, since there were two of them now.

(-)

"Welcome to your first Xiaolin Temple training session," Marylyn announced. The other five Xiaolin Warriors were lined up on the red carpet as Shelly scurried into the room, her spirit partner tagging along behind her. Marylyn was once again performing the training duties today, since Master Fung was working on renovating the dormitory hallway. Shelly had slept in a different section of Kimiko's room last night, but they'd known that she'd have to get her own cubicle the next morning.

Master Fung had offered to make Jack a room as well, but he'd promptly refused. Why would he want a tiny space with a mat, when he could be sleeping downstairs in his dark, roomy laboratory, in a hammock he'd set up in the corner?

Shelly glided over to the other elemental temple members and cocked her head a little. "Hey, that's right…" she said, turning to face Kimiko. "You never introduced me to your guy buddies."

"Oh, yeah…" Kimiko said, at last acknowledging their existences again.

"Hello, I'm Raimundo," Rai introduced himself, stepping forward and flashing a movie-star grin at her. "…But you can call me Rai."

"Ah…pleased to meet you," Shelly replied, and quickly turned her attention to the little figure beside him. Rai looked a bit disappointed, but allowed his egotistical little monk friend to take over.

"I am called Omi!" he cried, smiling and holding out his hand. "I hope we get to be good friends! It's exciting to meet an Ice Dragon like yourself, since I actually know some Ice-controlling…"

"Well, nice to meet you too," Shelly interrupted him and moved on to Clay.

"Howdy, ma'am," Clay greeted her, tipping his hat, politely. "Good ta have more've you around."

"What's your name?" Shelly asked, seeming a bit irritated.

"Clay Bailey, ma'am."

"Oh. Okay. You from Texas or something?"

Clay stepped back in astonishment. "How did you ever guess?"

Rai chuckled quietly. Kimiko put her hands on her hips. Was it just her, or was Shelly suddenly acting ruder than before? Well, she admitted to herself, it was kind of funny…Clay could be so slow sometimes.

"Hiya!" Jack called as soon as Shelly glanced in his direction. He stepped out and struck another strange, awkward pose. "I'm Jack Spicer! The legendary Dragon of Metal and master of non-evil!"

Everyone else rolled their eyes. "Do you have to add that every time you introduce yourself?" Rai complained.

"And what's that 'non-evil' thing?" Omi suspiciously queried.

"I think he just likes saying the word 'evil," Kimiko guessed.

"Oh, _Jack_!" Shelly said, and for a moment, everyone wondered if she knew him. "…Well, it's a pleasure."

Jack stared, confusedly at her as she walked away. "Oh, it's a pleasure," he mocked in a squeaky voice. "The pleasure is all mine. Lovely evening, isn't it? So very nice to meet you…" He cut himself off and made gagging noises in the background.

Marylyn laughed, nervously. "Yeah…sorry to subject you to that. Once again, I couldn't do anything about it." She turned back to address the rest of the Xiaolin Dragons as soon as Shelly got into place. "Well, then…shall we start? I just heard from Fung that the first of your Element Orbs should be nearby. One of you is very close to finding it…but, since we're not sure who it is, we all need to be ready…"

While the red-headed former Dragon was giving them this little speech, Shelly's little spirit partner drifted around, examining the other Xiaolin Dragons. It had already decided that it liked Kimiko last night, but it hadn't got a chance to judge the rest of them. It passed on Omi pretty quickly, and spent a few moments twirling around Rai's head before accepting him. The white blob studied Clay quite closely, and did a strange little nod to itself, which everyone took as "accepted".

Finally, Bobby spent a good thirty minutes staring at Jack, circling around him, landing on his head, staring directly into his eyes (which was very distracting), and even passing through his body once or twice. For some strange reason, Jack didn't feel that same cold, slimy, squirming feeling he'd felt whenever Wuya had passed through him. This ghost was different somehow. Well, a normal ghost and an evil sorceress ghost would naturally have a few distinctions between them. At last, Bobby decided that he was okay. At least that was what the Xiaolin Warriors assumed the little ghost was doing…

"Shen-Gong-Wu alert! Shen-Gong-Wu alert!" Dojo had impeccable timing, since Marylyn Orre had just been about to begin the training session.

"Ooh, cool!" Shelly exclaimed. "It's my first Shen-Gong-Wu hunt!"

Marylyn smiled. "And I want to tag along too…remember what I said last time?"

Dojo groaned to himself, just imagining the weight he'd be forced to carry in the next few minutes. "Well…at least I'm sure it's a Shen-Gong-Wu this time." He unrolled the magical Shen-Gong-Wu scroll, and an image of a strange pink square appeared in the center of the psychedelic blue circle.

"_That's_ the Wu?" Rai asked in disbelief. "That pink square? Dojo, I think the scroll's malfunctioning."

"That's not just _any _pink square!" the guardian dragon snapped back. "It's Wu Jin Duraflex! It's an incredibly durable molding substance that can stretch as far as you wish. You could make virtually anything out of it! In fact, whenever you call its name, it will morph into the first thing that comes to your mind."

It was true, as the six Xiaolin Dragons realized, watching the stick figure presentation. The little man symbol held out the square, and then it flew out of his hands, shaping and morphing itself into a bridge for him to cross

"Dojo…" Kimiko asked, staring interestingly at the example. "If this thing can morph into _anything_ you think of…can it morph into other Shen-Gong-Wu!"

"Well, yes," Dojo answered, "But any Wu Jin Duraflex Shen-Gong-Wu you use only have half the power of the real Shen-Gong-Wu."

"Wow…" Omi marveled. "So it is very important, then! We must leave to go find it right away!"

Dojo sighed. "Alright, alright then…" He closed his eyes and prepared to grow.

"No! Wait!" Shelly suddenly cried. "I uh…have to get something first…I left it in my room…"

"That's right!" Omi suddenly remembered. "We've got to arm ourselves with Shen-Gong-Wu just in case there's a showdown! I know we need not worry about Wuya and Jack anymore, but…there may be other threats!" He ran off towards the direction of the vault, closely followed by Kimiko, Rai, and Clay.

"And we can't forget our Shen-Gong-Wu-searching gear!" Jack added, sprinting off to his lab.

"Uh, okay…meet me outside," Dojo said, frowning at the prospect of having to carry six Xiaolin Warriors, Marylyn Orre, plus all their equipment. _I've really got to start lifting weights_, he thought. Then, just as he turned around and began to scuttle out towards the Temple gardens, an odd streak of white light suddenly zoomed by, barely missing his snout. "Okay…" he said to himself. "I have no idea what _that_ was. I think I'm seeing things…" For the moment, the miniature dragon ignored the phenomenon, and simply continued his trip outside. But soon, he'd be seeing the same thing again, though he'd have no idea that it was.

(-)

The dull, monotonous buzz of six motorcycles droned in the ears of the CFPU members as they flew over this unfamiliar landscape. Sandstorms whirled around them, some kicked up by the quickly rotating tires of their own motorcycles. It was yet another mission, and now, as the new accepted temporary leader of the bunch, Gerald rode in front of the others.

Finally, he'd figured out why Bob hadn't been at the top of the building with him and Shésui. The dark-haired gangster boy was lying, unconscious in a cart on the back of his motorcycle. When Gerald had returned to headquarters, he'd found his leader in this state. He wasn't dead, but no one was really sure what had happened to him. It looked like he was sleeping, but he'd still been sleeping for the past two days now. In fact, the other members were still debating about what was wrong with him, and Gerald was just barely able to hear them over the whirring of the motorcycles.

"You think he's in a coma?" one voice asked.

"Nah, he's just sleeping," another argued.

"For _two days_?" a third cried. "And why would he just curl up and go to sleep in the middle of headquarters?"

"Maybe our leader's got narcolepsy," one of the previous voices guessed. "And he just never wanted us to know, because we might get rid of him too."

"And whatever happened to Shésui?" the first voice asked. "I really miss that babe. I think she disappeared around the same time we found Bob…"

Suddenly, a bright flash of white light flashed before Gerald's eyes among the whirling grains of desert sand. Without warning, he jammed on the brakes, startled and rattled. "What the heck was that!" he cried.

"Augh!" the other CFPU members cried as they couldn't stop fast enough and went slamming into Gerald's vehicle. The last one bumped against the cart containing Bob's unconscious body.

"You idiots!" Gerald snapped at them. "Don't slam into the master's cart! Something could be really wrong with him! Did you see that white light?"

"White light?" one member with long, chestnut-colored hair spoke up. "I didn't see any light; all I could see was a bunch of sand!"

"Sorry, Jerry," the one with short, blond hair that had slammed into the cart apologized as he got back onto his motorcycle. "I was talking to Stanley and didn't notice anything around me."

"Well, pay better attention next time!" Gerald reprimanded. "I saw a bright flash of light. I don't know what it was, but it almost looked like…"

"…someone crossing over from the spirit world?" a very familiar voice finished for him.

The members of CFPU gasped as something began moving from inside the cart…and an instant later, Bob's sharp brown eyes were glaring back at them.

"…M…Master Bob…" Gerald stuttered in amazement. "How…? Why…? What…?"

Bob smirked and swiftly jumped from his cart as if he'd never been in an unhealthy fit of slumber. "Sorry I had to leave on such short notice," he apologized to his agents. "But I was performing a few vital tasks for Shésui. I had to leave. I'd very much appreciate it if you would always guard my body like this whenever I must leave it."

The astounded CFPU members simultaneously nodded their heads. "Yes, yes, of course, master," some of them chanted.

"You…_left your body?_" Gerald incredulously exclaimed. "How in the world did you…? Why would you _need_ to…?"

Bob just smiled. "Let's just keep it a little secret for now," he said. "But don't worry, I'll tell you when the time is right. Now…haven't we got a mission to undertake?"

The rattled CFPU members slowly nodded and sat back atop their motorcycles. It would take a while for them to shake off the shock of Bob's sudden, supernatural reappearance.

Then, as soon as his words faded out in their minds, black specks began to appear amidst the whirling Texas dust. Yes, they had traveled here for a reason, but for a moment, they had considered just dropping the mission when their leader had revived. Now, it looked like they'd have to carry it out after all.

The black specks gradually grew larger, first into black splotches, then black pieces of metal…and finally, into Black Vipers. Now, normally, the organization never got involved with other motorcycle gangs. It wasn't a gang war that they were looking for. However, this particular gang interested them, since it was a stereotypical group of Texas rebel girls. They wore black ripped jackets and liked to act "tough". Something about the girls' rattlesnake-shaped bikes brought a sneering chuckle to Bob's chest.

_Aw…_ he thought, _look at the little babies on their snake tricycles. _That would be a good insult to sling when they finally met. Bob always made his gang ride authentic, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, since it made them look even more professional. Besides, money was no object to them. They could always just steal whatever they wanted, by banishing the dealer, and the rest of the people in the area who might witness the theft. These girls probably had to buy their serpentine models.

At last, the vehicles were close enough for Bob to see each one's rider. The two on the sides were slender and the one on the right had chin-length auburn hair flapping in the wind. He couldn't see their faces since they were all wearing helmets (what losers), but it was still very easy to recognize their main target.

She wore the largest of the ripped black jackets, over a tied-up blue shirt, along with blue jeans and cowboy boots. She was kind of short, and very plump. Her behind even dipped off the motorcycle seat a little. In fact, if he didn't know better, Bob would've thought she was s guy. The only reason he knew she was female was from choosing her as a target online and seeing her picture.

As they approached, he stepped out of the cart (since the others hadn't thought to bring his motorcycle with them. How inconsiderate.) to address them, but as soon as he did, they began to circle around him in formation. Bob crossed his arms. He'd been expecting this. This was the Black Vipers' typical strategy, called the "Viper Strike". They would encircle their enemies, and then quickly tie them with lassos.

"Get ready," Bob muttered to Gerald. "They're going to use the Viper Strike. Everyone…execute defensive #3."

Indeed, the rebel girls threw long coils of rope towards them with incredible aim. However, before the lassos could even touch them, the CFPU held out their hands, creating a purple, magical barrier, much like Jack Spicer's Silver Shield technique. The energy flowed from their palms, and the rope crashed against it, falling uselessly to the ground.

"Oooh, look at that," one of the other Black Vipers taunted. "Clever little things, aren't they?"

"So you think you're all that just because you've got Worts?" their target finally spoke up. She skidded her viper motorcycle to a halt. "Well, we've got news for you, little buddy. You'd better run like a jackrabbit in huntin' season…"

The other Black Vipers screeched to a stop on the other sides of her as well, and removed their helmets. At last, the leader removed her helmet as well, and Bob held up the photograph he'd stowed in the pocket of his jeans. Yup…the appearances perfectly matched. Those beady blue eyes, large freckled cheeks, and short blond hair, sticking out in two pigtails…

"…Because you're messin' with Jessie Bailey…and the Black Vipers!" As if that wasn't enough of a dead giveaway.

"So you're Jessie Bailey," Bob spoke up, slipping from among his still mounted cohorts. "So that means you're exactly the one we've been looking for."

The large girl seemed a bit taken aback by this statement. "Just what do you mean by that?" she asked, placing her arms on her hips in an attempt to appear overbearing.

"Exactly what I said," Bob calmly replied. "You're the one we've been looking for. Allow us to introduce ourselves…"

"We are the bringers of peace and harmony! We are the magicians of perfect purity! We are Children for Pure Unity!" the other members recited in unison.

"And I am Bob Sanderson, their leader," Bob egotistically announced. "We've come to send you where you truly belong." He pulled a long, threateningly blue cape around his shoulders, and swirled it around his body for effect.

"What are you talking about, you freak?" another Black Viper sneered, her lopsided teeth showing.

"Exactly what you think it does," Bob said, mysteriously. He closed his eyes and prepared for the procedure. He did this several times a week, but when it was a target person, he always liked to make it into a ceremony, using his cape, and the other CFPU members. "Okay, guys. Get ready for the sequence."

The CFPU members smiled. Bob didn't really need their help to banish someone like this, but they enjoyed performing this ritual with their master.

As the other motorcycle gang members began to chant and form different positions with their hands, Jessie still stood solidly against the dusty Texas ground. No matter what, she'd hold her ground…but somehow, she didn't think these mysterious boys were just bluffing…

(-)

Dojo's long green body shot through the air currents above China. He took deep breaths and tried to keep a steady, powerful acceleration. Six young Xiaolin Dragons and a former adult Dragon were enough as it was, but they were also carrying bags of Shen-Gong-Wu, and weighed down by Jack's gear, which he insisted they wear.

"I'm so sorry," the former evil boy genius needlessly apologized to Shelly. "You only just appeared, and I haven't had time to finish your set yet…"

"It's okay," Shelly replied, smiling mysteriously at him. "I don't really need all that stuff anyway."

"So you can fly and talk to other people through the airwaves?" Jack sarcastically asked. "I just don't want you to feel left out…so you can have my Jack-bot guards!"

The flying, metallic robots hovered up behind Shelly, protecting her at his command. He'd brought a few of them with him for extra security, and to show off for his mother.

Shelly tried to hide her disappointment. "Oh…okay. They won't hurt me right?"

"Not if I don't tell them to, which there shouldn't be any reason for me to tell them to."

Shelly glanced over at the hulking robots behind her and hoped that they didn't have visual memory chips.

"Wow…" Marylyn commented, and Jack turned around to look at her, proudly. "…I've never ridden on Dojo before!" she continued, and Jack nearly fell off. "I didn't even know you _could_ carry passengers," she called up to the dragon. "Of course I knew about your true form, but there was never any need for…"

Dojo smiled as he struggled to pull them all. "Yes. I've always been able to carry passengers. There was just never any need for it before. Unfortunately, I'm out of shape now, so I'm not used to carrying so many passengers…ugh!"

Omi sat up straight and tried to look over towards the dragon. "Where is the Wu Jin Duraflex anyway, Dojo?"

"…I believe it is in Texas, but I'm not sure…"

"Texas?" Kimiko complained. "Geez, everything's in Texas. Did Dashi know that Clay was going to be a Xiaolin Dragon and purposely hide them there?"

"At least ah know my way around there. Makes it easier to find them," Clay said.

"I know, but it's getting sickening; this is the third Shen-Gong-Wu we've had to find in Texas."

"Ah, well I always wanted to visit Texas," Marylyn optimistically said. "I always tried to convince Henry to move to a more rural area, but he never listened to me."

A few hours of flying later, Dojo's body suddenly tensed. "We're getting close," he told them. "And…I feel the presence of another activating Shen-Gong-Wu…"

"But, how is that possible?" Kimiko asked. But, she didn't have to wait too long to find out.

"Wings of Tanabi!" a Southern accent yelled from below them, and a minute later, a large blond-haired girl floated up in front of them, holding on to a glider-like object with a rainbow trailing behind it.

"Jessie!" Clay cried, scrambling to the front of the dragon to speak with his sister. "What's going on?"

Jessie hovered in front of them for a moment, although she glanced down to make sure Bob and the others hadn't shot again. "Clay! You guys! There's another crazy motorcycle gang down there. They're tryin' ta put some sorta spell on me." She remained as confident and unconcerned as always. "I hate to ask this, but…do ya think ya'll could help us out?"

"Sure!" Omi immediately replied. "We're always willing to help an old friend of ours!"

"I'm not your friend," Jessie defied, shooting them a look. "Just because I helped you out once don't mean… Aaugh!" She jerked her large body to the left just as a blue concentration of magical energy shot towards her.

"What was _that_?" Kimiko asked in alarm.

"It's them lunatics!" Jessie cried, flying out of the way as Bob and his cronies powered up for another shot. "For some reason, they say they've been lookin' for me…"

"Okay, gang, let's go!" Omi commanded.

"Wait a minute," Jessie spoke up again, raising as eyebrow at Marylyn and Shelly. "Who're _you_ girls?" Then, she shifted her gaze to the Jack-bots circling Shelly, and then her eyes settled on Jack, just behind her. "And…hey, ain't you that Spicer creep?"

Jack ducked and tried to hide behind Shelly. "Who? Spicer who? Sorry, never heard of him…"

"It doesn't matter who we are!" Omi insisted. "We're going to help you, Clay's sister!"

Dojo nudged his nose down and zoomed this time towards the dusty ground. It was a lot easier traveling downwards, and in a moment's time, he was settling down on the desert floor. The Xiaolin Dragons and Marylyn quickly hopped off, and Jessie glided up behind them, alighting back next to her Black Viper motorcycle.

"Hey, hey," Bob taunted as soon as they appeared. "The gang's all here. You're such a coward, having to go get extra help to defend yourself."

"It's not like you're much better!" Jessie snapped back. "You have to have your gangster buddies fight with you."

"Fine then," Bob replied, stepping away from the other CFPU members, and staring her down with his narrow, piercing brown eyes. "Guys, leave this to me."

Gerald appeared a bit perturbed, but signaled the others to cease fire. Bob really shouldn't be using his powers solely by himself so soon after reawakening, but when he was determined about something, there was no stopping him.

"Who do you think you are, attacking these girls like this without a legitimate reason?" Omi reprimanded them, hopping out into the battlefield.

"Yeah! What's your reason for attacking my sister?" Clay added, stepping into the line of fire. "She hasn't done anything to you, has she?" He shot a suspicious glance over at Jessie and the other Black Vipers.

"No, no," Jessie immediately replied. "We've never seen them before in our lives!"

"Oooh, it's big, tough brother to the rescue, is it?" Bob taunted. "I'm so _scared_! No dim-witted _cowboy_ is gonna prevail over us! Cowboys are going to be our next target group- so why not start with you two?"

Now, the rest of the Xiaolin Warriors and Marylyn and Dojo jumped in next to them. "How dare you talk to Clay like that!" Kimiko cried, placing her hands on her hips.

"Just who are you anyway, jerk?" Raimundo asked, striking a pose.

Bob grinned and flipped his cape over his shoulder, dramatically. "The name's Bob Sanderson," he announced. "I'm the leader and founder of CFPU- Children For Pure Unity. Our job is to eliminate all those unworthy to live on this planet. And you have been deemed unworthy!" He pointed, disgustedly at Jessie.

"_Unworthy?_" Clay said. "You say my sister is unworthy just because she's a rebel cowgirl?"

Bob nodded. "We came to get rid of her, but since you're here, we may as well eliminate you too!"

Meanwhile, as the Texans continued to argue with the evil leader, Jack stared straight at Bob, his red eyes wide and unblinking. "…_Bob Sanderson_?" he said in disbelief. He wondered why the boy had suddenly reappeared, and why he was seeing him again _here_, and not in Chicago. This boy had been a primary reason never to return to Chicago in the first place.

Kimiko swiveled her head back at the sound of his voice. "You _know_ him, Jack?" she asked, slightly suspicious. Perhaps this deranged kid had been a former evil friend of his. But then again, if he were, how come they'd never seen him before?

"Ah," Bob spoke up in a loud, bold voice. He had at last noticed their conversation in the distance. "Good to see you again, _Spicy Pizza Head_. Now maybe I'll be able to get at you too."

"Spicy Pizza Head?" Kimiko continued to question. "Jack, what…?"

"I'll explain later," Jack replied, with a disappointed sigh. He'd much rather Kimiko never know about his difficult childhood, but that stupid Bob had forced his way back into his life…

"Less talk, more elimination," Bob spoke again, turning from Jack again, and eyeing Clay and Jessie. He suddenly thrust out an extended hand and called, "Yin Shing…Transportation!" The swelling, opaque beam again appeared, but this time, only from his pair of hands.

Clay and Jessie reacted swiftly, instantly jumping back and away from it. "I may not know a whole lot," Clay reasoned, "But I know enough to see that what you're doing is wrong. You need to do somethin' about that prejudice 'o yours."

"_No_," Bob disagreed, a sinister sneer appearing back on his lips. "I think _you're _the one who's got the problem." Now, he held out his hand, swirled his cape, and tried again. "Yin Shing Transportation!"

This time, Clay counteracted with his own attack, defending both himself and his sister. "Seismic Kick, Earth!" The giant fissure crackled through the ground, one protruding mountain of rock jutted just in the way of the beam, and in a flash of light, the rock was immediately sent into nonexistence.

Clay and Jessie were now left exposed, and the other CFPU members immediately took their cue and zoomed over to surround them. "Make a move and we'll grind you to salt, you Western hicks!" Bob threatened.

The other Xiaolin Warriors covered their mouths in shock. Omi took a small step forward to intercede, but Marylyn Orre held out a long, strong arm to stop him.

"No," she insisted, her serious face outlined by her blazing hair. "This is Clay's fight. Give him a chance to prove himself."

Kimiko was also flaming with anger, but obeyed her new female mistress and remained in line with the other Dragons. Rai seemed a bit worried, while Jack was having déjà vu.

Clay was normally quiet, gentle, and docile, but now, his large face was turning red, and even his flashing blue eyes could be seen. They'd never seen him so angry, except maybe when he was being possessed by Sabini, which was precisely why Jack wasn't impressed. The blond cowboy had a reddened, splotchy face, his hands clenched into fists. They were in for it now.

"I can't believe you, punk," he said, through gritted teeth. "Discriminatin' against Southerners? This is even lower than the dirt _below_ a snake's belly button. How dare you undermine my family and my way of life!"

"Clay knows the word "undermine?" Jack whispered, but Kimiko elbowed him in the chest.

"Oh yeah?" Bob replied. "Well, I know a lot more than you do, and…"

While the two of them continued to sling insults at each other, Jessie decided to just save herself, and turned abruptly to dash off away from the motorcycles. As she did, something fell from her jeans pocket, and bounced to the ground just between Bob and Clay. It was a familiar pink, flexible block.

"The Wu Jin Duraflex!" Dojo cried. "_Jessie_ had it?"

Instinctively, Clay and Bob both reacted down to pick it up at the same time, and of course, it started glowing.

"Bob…" Clay spoke up, staring into the boy's hard brown eyes. "I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!"

"Fine," Bob argued. "And if you don't mind, I'd like to add something else for stake."

"Wait a minute…is that fair?" Omi asked, suspicious of this new antagonist.

Dojo quickly flipped through the ancient Xiaolin Showdown rulebook and at last read the rule out loud. "Rules Addendum, #23- The challenger or the challenged may add up to two other objects to fight for, aside from the Shen-Gong-Wu they both touch. However, this may not be used with a Shen Yi Bu Dare or an 8-way showdown, unless challengers are grouped into two teams, then one team may add only two things. No more than six additional objects may be added. …Phew!"

"So he wants to put something _else_ at stake?" Kimiko worriedly asked.

Bob swiftly pointed to Jessie, who was trying to hide among the motorcycles. "I'd like to add your sister! If you win, you can keep her, but if I win, I can send her to the spirit world. Deal?"

"Hey!" the plump, Western girl cried. "You can't wager me like I'm some _object_! Just who you think you are?"

Bob, of course, continued to block her out, focusing his sinister glare on the blond cowboy in front of him. Clay froze in place. What should he do? He didn't like playing around with his own sister's life like this, but he couldn't back out…if he refused, Bob would automatically win. Well, if he accepted…at least there was a slight chance that he might win both the Wu Jin Duraflex and Jessie's life.

"Okay…" he finally decided. "…I accept."

"_What?_" Jessie screeched in the background. "You can't be serious! What do ya think ya're doin' brutha?"

"The game is first to cross a desert obstacle course wins!" Clay continued. "I wager the Fist of Tebigong."

"Hold on a minute!" Omi said, zipping up between them in a cloud of dust. "You _can't _do this Showdown…that guy has no Shen-Gong-Wu to wager!"

"That's what you think…" Bob replied, yanking the gold Wheel of Quan Lao from his pocket.

"_Another_ new Shen-Gong-Wu?" Omi questioned. "What's that one? …Dojo?" There was a long pause as the miniature dragon tried to think.

"Errrr…it looks like a dream catcher. The Imaginary Catcher, perhaps? No…it's too bright. Not the Glove of Jisaku, we already have that…or the Sphere of Yun. Ummm…hmmmm…"

"You don't know?" Rai cried, quickly losing faith in the little reptile once again. "I'm sorry, kids," Dojo at last answered. "I don't know what it is. I've never seen that Shen-Gong-Wu before in my life." Well, that was suspicious…

"And I wager this!" Bob continued, and everyone was disappointed, hoping to hear him say the item's name. With the rules set, they were free to begin, and as soon as they both called, "Xiaolin Showdown", a long obstacle course erupted out of the Texas sand. "Gong Yi Tan Pai!" Clay and Bob simultaneously called, and surprisingly enough, no one wondered how Bob instinctively knew everything about Xiaolin Showdowns.

The two of them barreled towards the first part of the obstacle course- a long gully filled with giant, swift-moving tumbleweeds. Clay ran for the valley and used his Earth Fist of Tebigong technique to pummel the ground and give him a high boost above the tumbleweeds.

Bob barreled forward, and immediately, a tumbleweed from the side smacked into him. For a moment, he was stunned, but quickly popped back up, placed his two fingers in his mouth and whistled as loudly as he could. The low buzz of a motor started up in the distance, and an instant later, Bob's motorcycle came speeding off the side of the gully. "Yahooo!" he cried as he leaped atop it. "Get ready to eat my dust!" He jammed his sneaker onto the pedal and zoomed at breakneck speed, straight through the tumbleweeds, and past Clay.

"Cheater," Omi said despicably.

"Remind you of someone we know?" Rai teased, cocking an eyebrow at Jack.

Jack's face turned red. "If you are suggesting that I am even _remotely_ similar to Bob Sanderson, I will…"

"Chill, you guys," Kimiko told them. "The cacti are next."

Indeed, a prickly forest of cacti was just ahead, and Bob was speeding straight towards it. "_Augh_!" his low voice cried as he slammed into the sharp needles. He then spent a good two minutes picking the needles out, and by that time, Clay had caught up. Bob frantically searched for a path around the cactus forest, but there was none. The magical Xiaolin Showdown setup had obviously done a very good job of making sure he couldn't cheat…too much.

"We should make a new rule and add it to the book," Marylyn was suggesting to Dojo as she watched the match. "Rule #15- No objects or machines, other than the ones wagered in the showdown and scenery generated by the showdown may be used in the showdown."

"…I don't know," Dojo replied. "It's too late to make rules now; Dashi's already made them all. Well, I actually heard that Omi made up the name Xiaolin Showdown and the Gong Yi Tan Pai phrase…I'm still confused by that… And actually, that would be rule #25."

In all the fray and excitement of the Showdown, everyone failed to notice the absence of one of their members.

Clay easily smashed his way through the spiky forest with the Fist of Tebigong, and since he was used to the sting of their needles, it didn't bother him when he slammed into one. Bob concentrated, and formed a blue bubble shield around himself and his motorcycle. He then closed his eyes and whipped straight through the piercing plants with determination. Clay had already passed the obstacle, but Bob soon caught up to him again.

Now, they came to a long stretch of sand dunes, followed by a steep chasm. There was only one bridge to cross. Bob narrowed his eyes, gripping tight to the handlebars, and slammed against the pedal of the motorcycle. Clay was left in a spray of sand, unable to see anything around him. He shielded his eyes with his hat, and tried to wave away the dust. His efforts proved useless.

Just then, Clay thought he saw something glimmering in the corner. He knew he shouldn't get distracted by background details…this could be a trick to lead him away from the goal…but somehow, he was strangely drawn to it. Clay walked into the stinging sand, shoving it away. He was almost there…the white sparkle was growing larger.

At last, the sparkling item came into view. It was a round, crystalline globe, with green hues swirling in its center like storm clouds. Slowly, he picked it up and stared into its centers. As he watched the clouds drifting, lazily by, images of his life and his home danced through his subconscious. Their cozy Texas ranch…herding cows…Mama Bailey's home cooking….singing folk and country songs around the fireplace…playing with Jessie in the pigpen…

_This isn't just a fight for my sister and the Wu Jin Duraflex…_he began to realize, _this is a fight for our whole Texas lifestyle. A fight for our whole way of life. I can't lose! _

Clay's determination drew the power from the object in his hands…the green particles of energy permeated out of the globe, and into his body. Just then, a gigantic wall of rock engulfed his body, and trees, plants, and all other divisions of the Earth swirled above and below him. Clay's cheeks prickled as he felt his clothes changing inside the cocoon of rock and sand. Finally, the cocoon broke away, and with a crumbling noise, fell lifelessly back to the ground.

Clay was still as determined as ever…but this time he looked different. Instead of his blue buttoned shirt, bandana, and jeans, he wore a green sparkling uniform with a belt, elaborate boots, and even a cape, fluttering out behind him. It was like he'd just transformed into a prince…a prince of Earth. Bob Sanderson was really in for it now.

Clay zoomed forward, and for an instant, he actually thought he was flying. The ground zoomed past beneath him…it was as if he'd become one with the very Earth itself.

He burst past the bridge that Bob had just zoomed over, and came to the final obstacle- a large pit full of rattlesnakes. Clay bypassed them entirely. The snakes couldn't harm the earth…so they couldn't harm him either. The red tape marking the finish line was just ahead, and Clay smiled, knowing that in a few seconds, he'd win this showdown and regain both the Shen-Gong-Wu and Texas tradition.

Then, just as he was whooshing over the sand, the extent of the ground itself, a terrible roar shot out from behind him. An instant before he hit the finish line, Bob Sanderson appeared again, flying over the snake pit on his motorcycle. The vehicle was going so fast, that it didn't stop after the pit. The Xiaolin Warriors, Marylyn, and Dojo all gasped as the gangster boy went sailing straight over Clay's head…and over the finish line.

Mere milliseconds later, Clay crossed it as well. The cowboy collapsed to the desert floor, more from the shock of what had just happened than from exhaustion. His strange uniform slowly flickered away, and he was left in his normal buttoned shirt and jeans.

"Clay!" Rai, Kimiko, and Omi cried, rushing forward to make sure their friend was okay. Marylyn followed after them, but Jack hung back for a minute.

"Hey…" he said to himself. "…What happened to Shelly?" No one heard him, or even noticed that the brunette girl was gone, too preoccupied with the Showdown and its outcome.

Dojo quickly clawed up in front of Clay, glaring at Bob. The evil boy was smiling and holding up the Fist of Tebigong, that mysterious hoop Shen-Gong-Wu, and the Wu Jin Duraflex, proudly.

"And now, for my final prize…" he announced, shooting a glance over at Jessie.

The rebel cowgirl couldn't move, even as he grabbed her arm and yanked her over in front of him. She was just so shocked. How could Clay have lost? Sure, it could happen; he'd even lost to her during their motorcycle showdown. But it was just unfathomable… how could he have lost to this jerk?

"…No…" Clay at last croaked, lifting his head from the sand. His cowboy hat tipped off, and his blue eyes could finally be seen. They were slowly filling with tears. "No…you can't take her…you can't just…"

But it was too late. With one sweep of his hand, and one call of "Yin Shing Transportation!", the plump blond cowgirl was swallowed in the swirling blackness of nothingness. And that was it. She had gone to the spirit world.

"…JESSIE!" Clay yelled in pain, and everyone was sure they'd never heard him yell so loud in his life. By now, everyone was gathered around him, as the horrid motor sound of the CFPU slowly faded into the distance.

"Clay…" Omi gently tried to comfort him.

The cowboy was facing the ground, hiding his face in his mop of blond hair. He didn't want any of them to see him cry. It was only natural. His sister had essentially just been killed. The Xiaolin Warriors moved in to hug Clay and try to make him feel better.

Marylyn looked after the evil CFPU members. "Those kids…they have to be new-age followers of Wuya's teachings. That technique he used was something the Heylin witches used to banish their opponents from the realm of the living. We'll get them back someday." She clenched one hand into a fist. "Gee, I feel bad for you guys. We never had to deal with these kinds of situations when I was a Xiaolin Dragon."

At last, Clay wiped his face and stood up, tall and strong once again. He produced the green swirling object he'd found from behind his back. It was the one thing he hadn't managed to lose. "I found this in the middle of the Showdown…" he slowly spoke up. "What is it, anyway?"

Marylyn gasped as soon as she set eyes on it. "Oh my gosh! Clay, honey, that's your Element Orb! The Element Orb of Earth!"

Clay looked back down at it. "But…weren't we supposed to receive special powers when we found our Element Orbs? Yes, my clothes changed, but I still lost the showdown…" His voice faded away and he hung his head, his blond hair flopping over again.

"Even with your full powers, that doesn't mean you'll win every showdown you fight," Marylyn explained. "There are still unexpected things that could have happened. Besides, you haven't been taught your special technique yet…and you need your token Shen-Gong-Wu to do so."

"The Fist of Tebigong…" Clay realized.

"It's okay…" Kimiko tried to comfort him.

"You were still the first to find your Element Orb!" Omi reassured him. "And that's amazing!"

"Yeah, you did awesome, dude!" Rai chimed in.

"C'mon, let's go back to the temple and have a party!" Jack suggested.

"Aw, you just want an excuse to eat ice cream," Rai criticized.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Kimiko admitted under her breath. "But let's have one anyway! We've never thrown a party for Clay before!"

So they all chattered to each other as Dojo grew thirty feet and they prepared for liftoff. Still…no one seemed to notice the absence of the Dragon of Ice…

(-)

Shésui made her way through the blinding sandstorm. With her keen eyesight, she could see directly to the place where he'd said they'd meet. At last, she emerged right in front of a T-shaped cactus, where her familiar prejudiced partner was standing, a satisfied grin on his face.

"So…" he said, happily. "What'd you think of _that_, huh? Whipped that old cowboy's behind. One down…four to go."

"Don't get overconfident, Bobby," Shésui hissed. "We've got a long way to go if we want to get proper revenge."

"Yeah, I know," Bob readily agreed. "But still…it was pretty good for a beginning. Just think of it- I beat one of the Xiaolin Dragons, even with his full powers."

"Clay might have had his full powers, but he had no idea how to use them," Shésui explained. "That's why you won. Hopefully, since you took his token Shen-Gong-Wu, he won't be able to learn his advanced moves. By the time they learn, I'll have already unlocked the door…"

Bob nodded. He was a big part of this plan now, and he'd need to keep it up in order for it to take effect. He was slightly nervous, since he desperately wanted to prove himself. Well, he'd done great this time…

"We must take the others' token Shen-Gong-Wu in the next showdowns. I'll make sure they use them. Kimiko's is the Star Hanabi, Omi's the Orb of Tornami, and Raimundo's the Sword of the Storm."

Bob nodded again. He was doing a lot of nodding lately.

"Well, we better get back to work," Shésui said, hissing sinisterly. "They'll come looking for us soon."

Bob carefully stashed the Fist of Tebigong , Wu Jin Duraflex, and Wheel of Quan Lao in a pouch around his waist. No one would steal them there.

Shésui ceremoniously raised her right hand and chanted a various incantation under her breath. A thin, misty substance waved out from the center of her palm. It slowly rolled forward, and twisted all around Bob's body. It poked at his chest, dipping in and out, as if trying to draw something out of him.

At last, he gasped in shock, his eyes closed completely, and he fell like a stiff board to the sandy ground. In a poof of white smoke, a little shapeless white spirit with beady brown eyes and a little blue wisp on its head appeared right where he had been standing.

Shésui grinned and cast a spell to hide her fangs and improve her speech. "…Come, Bobby," she commanded and turned back into the whirling sands.


	4. The Trials of Kimiko Tohomiko

And now, I also own the Harp of Harmonies…I believe.

Kimiko chapter! Yay! Unlike Clay in last chapter, I actually had her costume sketched out so I could describe it better. I probably should sketch out the guys' uniforms too…Sigh…So busy… Anyway, this chapter has changed titles twice. I really didn't want to put her name in the title because it isn't exclusively _only_ her, but this title fit the best. Yes, it's Tohomiko, not Toho…even though nothing else in this story now corresponds with Season 2. Still wondering what they're going to do…Personally, I'm not too satisfied with this chapter. My writing is kind of...blah lately. But, enjoy anyways. It will get a lot better later, I promise! Omi is next!

**(For everyone who skipped Ch. 3)** **Last time on Xiaolin Showdown: Elemental Ages**: Clay did a Xiaolin Showdown against Bob Sanderson for the Wu Jin Duraflex, a SGW that morphs into the first thing that comes into your head. Clay's Fist of Tebigong vs. Bob's Wheel of Quan Lao (unused). Desert obstacle course. Clay finds his Element Orb and receives higher powers, as well as a princely green uniform with a cape. Nevertheless, he loses by a hair. Bob now has the Fist of Tebigong, Wu Jin Duraflex, and Wheel of Quan Lao, and sent a member of Clay's family to the spirit world.

Special thank-you to TamerTerra!

(-)

Chapter 4: The Trials of Kimiko Tohomiko

Key Tactic #1- If you've got it, flaunt it.

(-)

Master Fung frowned at the prospect of another night off, but finally agreed that it was okay for them to hold a party for Clay. They'd work on his full power techniques soon after, since he knew that the cowboy was pure enough not to be corrupted. Clay, Kimiko, and Omi shouldn't pose a threat, but he was still worried about Rai and Jack.

In the meantime, he had to concentrate on training Shelly. The young girl was still far away from even becoming a Xiaolin Apprentice, much less looking for her Element Orb. Perhaps there was none, since Ice was a new element addendum to Water. So far, the girl was doing excellent, and Master Fung wasn't surprised when she said she'd studied martial arts for three years in her town section as a way of defending herself on the streets. It would still be a few months before she would reach Xiaolin Apprentice status, though.

(SPOILER)

That night, to get the sorrow and tension out of the air, the Xiaolin Dragons held a memorial service for Jessie Bailey. They continued to comfort Clay, but even with the circumstances, he did not want to inform his parents yet. Though it seemed generally impossible…there was still a chance that they could get her back someday.

"We'll catch that Bob jerk and make him bring Jessie back!" Kimiko said, in an angry, determined tone.

(SPOILER)

"Yeah!" the others cheered, and Clay gradually began to feel a bit better. To Rai and Jack's dismay, he even felt good enough to request only country songs at his party.

Kimiko once again appointed herself head of the decoration committee. Because she _was_ the decoration committee. Meanwhile, Omi, Rai, and Jack helped with the rest of the preparations. However, Jack was only setting up furniture because Omi and Rai were cooking the refreshments. By no means should you ever let Jack or his chef-bots anywhere near a stove.

Unfortunately, Rai and Omi had no idea how to prepare chicken legs, buffalo wings, home fries, or chicken 'n grits, so for the country hoedown party, they ended up with "chicken-in-tacos", "buffalo rice", and "down home chow mien", as well as a large lumpy object that no one could identify. They had even asked Shelly to help them when they realized that she'd never learned how to cook either.

"But I thought all females are supposed to have at least basic cooking skills," Omi protested. "It says it in the guide! All females come with essential experience in the culinary arts…"

"Well, certainly not _all_ females," Shelly replied. "I've grown up on the street eating out of trash bins; how should I know how to cook?"

Rai blinked incredulously. He wondered how someone who'd had to eat out of the trash bins still managed to look so gorgeous.

"I'll set the food out," she offered instead. "And get the stereo, if Jack hasn't already gotten it." She quickly grabbed the strange, various confections and whisked them out to the kitchen.

"What the heck is _that?_" Kimiko shrieked as soon as Shelly appeared in the room. "Clay told me to make chicken legs, buffalo wings, home fries, and chicken 'n grits."

"Then why didn't you make them?" Shelly retorted.

"Because I'm doing the decorations!" Kimiko shot back.

"Well, you could have told me to do the decorations. It's not my fault Rai and Omi can't make that stuff."

"I'm not sure of how you decorate. You could've made the place look terrible!"

"Well, I don't think you're doing much of a better job than I could have done!"

"_Just what are you trying to imply_?" Kimiko slowly stepped back down off of her ladder to stare the brunette in the eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt the catfight," the ironically cheerful voice of Jack Spicer suddenly piped up. "But I've brought the stereo!" He was dragging a huge 4-speaker stereo up on a dolly, set it down, and instantly set it up. "Just finished it yesterday," he bragged. "What else do you want? I've got all the equipment right here- strobe lights, disco balls, confetti light balls, random lasers…" He pressed a button and multicolored flashing lights all popped out of the back of the stereo, sweeping across the walls, on the floor, and throughout the whole room.

"Augh!" Kimiko cried. "Jack! Turn that thing off! I can't see!" A rainbow of dots was flashing before her eyes, and when she tried to take a step, she found that her arms had turned purple and her body was moving in slow motion, and she nearly tripped. "This is a _country_ party, for cryin' out loud! We're not going to need any of that junk!"

Jack's smile immediately drooped and he switched the dance floor lights off. The world again returned to normal, and Kimiko was relieved to find her arms flesh-colored again, and with normal movement. "…You didn't have to be so harsh on it…" Jack said, looking disappointedly up at the music machine. "I know I ran out of emotion chips and didn't put one in it, but still…"

"Oh, it's okay," Kimiko instantly replied, running over to hug him. "I was just angry at Shelly and started to take it out on you."

"It's alright, I'll forgive you," Jack said, turning to return her hug. Then they started getting lovey-dovey, so Shelly turned her back, setting the trays out on the long table and rolled her eyes. This would be a lot easier without that Kimiko girl getting in the way…

Bobby hovered over the dishes and brought a fingerless "hand" up to its nonexistent mouth, its wispy body wavering. It almost looked like it was laughing, but it made no sound. Shelly quickly coaxed it back up to her shoulder as Rai and Omi entered the room, with Clay following close behind them.

"Oh!" Kimiko suddenly exclaimed, jumping away from Jack (much to his disappointment). "You're here? We're about ready to start; just let me finish hanging the boots…" Brown streamers were strung around the perimeter of the room in looping formations, and Kimiko had been in the process of hanging little paper cowboy boots over the sections where it curved up.

"Sorry about the food," Rai explained. "But we didn't know how to make that stuff, and Shelly doesn't even know how to cook…"

"…Which obviously goes against traditional values," Omi added.

"Will you just shut up?" the brown-haired girl shot at them. "I may not be able to cook, but there are a lot better things I _can_ do…"

"It's just unusual…" Omi continued. "…But, given your living conditions, I suppose it can be overlooked. …No hard feelings?" He smiled and tried to compensate by staring up at her and looking cute.

Shelly defiantly crossed her arms. That sort of stuff would never work on her, but she muttered, "Yeah, okay," just to get him off her back. She had bigger fish to fry.

"Okay!" Omi echoed. "Now…let us all heartily party!"

Shelly glared sideways at the cheerful little monk as he ran to his friends and they chuckled and corrected him. Mentally, she decided that he'd be one of the first to go.

Clay was practically in tears as he looked at the decorations. This was for him. They were having a party for _him_. It was still just beginning to sink into his head. Finally, Kimiko finished hanging the last cowboy boot, and it was time to begin.

Jack watched in agony as they forced country music CD's into the slots of his sparkling new DJ machine, as if forcing broccoli into a picky child's mouth. He'd have to wash it out with soap and water before he stowed it back downstairs.

Dojo popped in to join the party as well, and as soon as everything was set, the "Congratulations on your Element Orb Find" party unofficially began. Everyone mostly talked and sometimes danced. Most of the time, it was only Clay and Shelly dancing, but sometimes Kimiko and Omi would join them.

Once, a slow song came on, so Kimiko pulled Jack out to dance with her. Despite her occasional squeaks as he stepped on her toes, they seemed to be having a great time.

Shelly looked disappointedly over at them, and when she looked back, was surprised to see the round, tanned face of Raimundo grinning back at her. "May I have this dance?" he asked, in a cheesy manner.

"I though you said you had a girlfriend," Shelly replied, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Yes, but she's on the other side of the world right now. And it's just a dance. It's not like I'm asking you out. …So please?" Rai sounded terribly like he was trying to make good excuses, which only raised Shelly's eyebrows more.

"Well, I suppose so," she finally assented. "But I'm not getting in trouble if your girlfriend finds out. You forced me into it, and I didn't know you had a girlfriend. Okay? Deal."

Rai smiled and guided her onto the dance floor next to Kimiko and Jack. He was surprised with how light and airy and graceful she felt drifting across the floor. What he failed to notice was the surprisingly sad body expressions on the formless little ghost, Bobby. It flew over to a corner of the room and lifted its round shoulders, as if sulking. Meanwhile, Omi and Clay, left with no one to dance with, jokingly began to dance with each other. When that song at last faded away, the couples broke up and they returned to their previous activities.

Shelly remained on the dance floor, floating around like a dolphin through water. Her spirit partner zoomed back to her side, floating in formation around her like it was trying to dance too.

Kimiko sat back down at the tables with Omi, Jack, and Rai, while Clay wandered over to get some refreshments. Clay was the only one brave enough to eat them, and even he said that they tasted "a little off." So far, they'd been having fun. Dojo and a few of the other braver Xiaolin Dragons had tried the food, but immediately abandoned it. Well, Dojo said the buffalo rice was "interesting" and Rai actually ate a whole chicken leg taco.

Kimiko even got Rai and Jack to dance earlier when they played "Cotton-eye Joe", just because they knew all of the steps. Other than that, neither of them had danced or done much of anything.

Now, however, they'd taken a more active role in the party, and Jack even noticed that they were almost out of punch and offered to refill the bowl. When he returned, carrying the see-through plastic bowl full of red juice, he froze just before he reached the table. The sight in the middle of the transformed kitchen was amazing, and when he got a look at it, he'd become immediately transfixed.

Shelly was still dancing, to a random country song that had just begun. Yes, she was a good dancer, but the thing that was most shocking about the sight was that she was magically blending her movements with the clear blob. Little Bobby bobbed in time with the beat, choreographing its air dance with her land one. The shapeless entity's closed eyes displayed its mirth. Clearly, it was having a good time dancing with her. For a moment, Jack wondered if this wasn't the first time they had performed together.

As Shelly spun around once, the ghost spiraled around her body, creating a lovely twisting effect, similar to Omi's Tornado Strike move. For a moment, Jack thought he saw Shelly glance in his direction. She laughed in glee as Bobby began to dance with her again. They were having the time of their lives…

As Jack gaped at them, some strange feeling of déjà vu flickered into his chest. He was having a lot of this lately, wasn't he?

"Hey, Jack…" Kimiko's voice echoed in his ear from a place far away. "Jack, can you hear me?"

"Huh?" The feeling finally flickered out, and he came back down onto the planet. It was so noisy all of a sudden, and he felt strangely wet. "What is it, Kimiko…augh!" When he finally jerked his head away from Shelly, he found that he was soaking in red, sticky punch, while the bowl lied upturned at his feet, and the rest of it formed a puddle underneath him. Kimiko was giving him an angry glare, while crossing her arms and tapping her foot in the distance. "What?" Jack asked, looking over at her. "I-I'm sorry, I'll clean up the punch! What happened anyway?"

As he began to rush off to get a towel, Kimiko simply reached out and grabbed his arm, holding him back. "You went off into a trance staring at _Shelly_," she said with hatred lining her voice. "…And the bowl slipped right out of your hands. You were so busy staring at her that you didn't even notice when it splashed all over you! Now, _what do you have to say for yourself_?" The hot-tempered girl was on the verge now, her face growing redder by the minute.

"Uh…" Jack said in a tiny, high voice. "…I'll clean it up…"

"WHY YOU...!" Kimiko exploded, and Jack desperately tried to hide under his arms in defense.

Rai, Omi, and Clay chuckled as they watched the Japanese girl screaming and beating him over the head with a broomstick. This sure was an interesting party.

Meanwhile, from her swirling positions in the middle of the dance floor, Shelly grinned in satisfaction, and for a split second, little dots that looked like stars sparkled in her blue eyes.

(-)

Compared to the mystical excitement they'd been putting on lately, training in the temple seemed very boring and monotonous. Rai was simply refusing to work, leaning against the back wall and complaining that he was too tired to train. Jack sat next to him, scrubbing plates of metal and "keeping him company." Kimiko tripped a few times during her routine. Shelly seemed to be following her, and tripped once, too. Clay had no energy, which was understandable, but even Omi seemed to be lacking today.

Master Fung bared down on them, raising an eyebrow and giving them the Evil Temple Master's Eye. "What time did you all get to bed last night?" he asked, raising his voice in frustration.

"Nine 'o clock," Omi admitted, bowing apologetically. "I'm very sorry to have disobeyed, but it was on behalf of Clay…"

"Ten," Kimiko chimed in, her voice sounding desperate.

"Midnight," Clay calmly said. "I apologize; I was havin' a hard time sleepin'. Thinkin' about what happened yesterday kept givin' me the heebie-jeebies."

"Midnight," Rai said, as well. "…I wasn't tired. I am now…"

"Nine," Shelly said, smiling sweetly.

"I have no idea, but it was late," Jack said, glancing up from his work. "I had to spend the rest of the night cleaning out the DJ machine, and the minor parts still aren't disinfected yet…" He gestured to the pieces in his hands.

Master Fung sighed. "This is hopeless," he turned to mutter to Dojo…only to find that the little dragon was taking a snooze on his shoulder. "Get up!" he shouted, flinging Dojo to the ground.

"Huh? What? Oh…what time is it? Ah…Oh! Master Fung!" At last, Dojo noticed the grim master staring down at him. "Er…sorry…big party last night, you know… They tempted me with buffalo rice!"

"That's it," Fung at last decided, "There are to be no more celebrations. Not for finding Element Orbs, not for promotions…not even for birthdays! Is that understood?" Dull, disheartened nodding followed. "You've all been slacking lately, and with this critical fight approaching, we can't have any of that! You must all be in perfect shape in order for your Orb's powers not to affect you negatively. You two, get up!"

Jack and Rai jumped to their feet, fearing the master's wrath. By now, no one would wonder who he meant when he said "you two."

"In order to master your full power, ultimate technique, you must be in perfect sync with your body, your powers, and your token Shen-Gong-Wu."

"Token Shen-Gong-Wu?" Omi asked.

"Why yes," Master Fung continued. "They are the Shen-Gong-Wu which can be used in combination with your powers, and that you are the most drawn to. With these Shen-Gong-Wu and your Element Orbs, you will be able to perform the most powerful attack of your element. As you may already have figured out, Clay's token Shen-Gong-Wu is the Fist of Tebigong, Kimiko's is the Star Hanabi, Omi's is the Orb of Tornami, Raimundo's is the Sword of the Storm…"

"What's _mine_?" Jack suddenly asked. "Oh…let me guess…is it the Jet Bootsu? The Monkey Staff? I had to use those a lot…"

"Jack…you know what yours is…" Master Fung said in annoyance.

"What? Oh…the Soul Scepter? …That's not fair! How come I can't have one that can actually be _used_?" He turned around and pouted while Master Fung continued his speech.

"Anyway, this is why I must put you through extensive training. You must be fully trained in body, mind, and with your Shen-Gong-Wu."

"Uh…speaking of Shen-Gong-Wu…" Dojo interrupted, jumping back to life. "I think another one just awakened…I feel tingly…" The little dragon shivered and went into a spasm for a moment, before itching and getting a clear reading. "It's…it's the Harp of Harmonies! …I think…"

At his words, Master Fung pulled out the Shen-Gong-Wu scroll to show everyone. The words "Harp of Harmonies" appeared below the vortex, and a golden, curving harp with silver strings appeared in the middle of the blue mist. "The Harp of Harmonies is an instrument used to subdue your enemies and either put them to sleep, or put them into a trance," he read off the description that magically appeared before him. The Xiaolin Warriors saw this demonstrated as one little man symbol played the harp and a second little man symbol curled up and went to sleep in front of him.

"This is great!" Rai cried, realizing what a Shen-Gong-Wu like this meant. "As soon as we find this, we can put that dumb Bob guy to sleep and take the Fist of Tebigong back from him."

"Rai, we cannot just steal the Shen-Gong-Wu from him," Omi told him.

"Why not?" Rai casually asked. "We stole from Jack all the time."

Jack swiveled his head around at this moment to glare at him.

"Only when he had stolen from us first," Omi pointed out.

"Either way, we still need to retrieve it- ooof!" Dojo spoke up as he grew thirty feet and slammed into a pillar.

Master Fung rolled his eyes. "Hopeless," he repeated to himself.

Dojo pulled his head out of the pillar, shook it to regain his focus, and looked over to the Warriors. "Well, c'mon! Let's get this show in the sky!"

They all grabbed Shen-Gong-Wu and hopped on. Eager to get this over with, Dojo quickly lifted off, without actually taking a head count.

"Wait!" Jack yelled from the ground. "You forgot your gear!" He flipped on his HeliPack and flew up after them, waving a large brown sack.

(-)

Aw…city life. It all seemed so familiar. Bob slowly sat up and looked around. From the crammed, high-rise buildings, cars, and milling pedestrians, he knew this was a city, but it certainly wasn't Chicago. There was something distinctly different, even without getting a good look at the surroundings. Everything seemed different. Even the air itself was different. Finally, he looked up and observed the sea of black hair…they were all Asian people, and the sweeping, complex characters on the shop signs meant one of two things.

Where was he? Beijing, perhaps? No…there were a lot of people, but there weren't _that_ many people. As he looked up, Bob noticed the tall, pointed tower reaching towards the sun. _Tokyo_…he realized. _We're in Tokyo_.

"Yo, Gerald!" he called up to his driver. "Why are we paying a visit to Tokyo?"

"Why, welcome back, Bob!" Gerald called down to him. "Shésui gave us a call. Said one of those Shin-Gone-Boo things was activating in Tokyo. Those guys we're after should be going after it, and then we can take away their powers or something…"

Bob nodded, translating from his unaware, confused version. "Did she say where it was exactly?"

"No. We've got to find it before they do. She said we'd better hurry because she's coming on their flying dragon creature and they should be here in a few minutes."

Bob swiftly swung himself out of the cart and up onto the back of his motorcycle. "Okay. I have no idea where to start looking…"

At this statement, the monstrous figure of Dojo came floating down from the sky. He hovered right next to the Tokyo Tower, swiveling around it and investigating it. Well…that was easy.

"Okay, guys!" Bob ordered, even though Gerald was the one leading the pack. "To the Tokyo Tower!"

(-)

As Dojo hovered just above the metal rafters of the Tokyo Tower, the six Xiaolin Dragons carefully slipped off and onto a nearby landing spot. Not that it mattered if they fell- they were all wearing patented Jack Spicer HeliPacks, even Shelly, now that he'd gotten hers done.

"Dojo, are you _sure_ about this?" Kimiko asked as she landed safely on a beam. "If there was a Shen-Gong-Wu on the Tokyo Tower, I think I would have known about it by now."

"Not necessarily," Dojo told her. "Normal people are incapable of sensing Shen-Gong-Wu…or sometimes…even seeing them."

"Yeah…this is a national landmark, I think they would have broadcast it if they'd discovered a golden harp on the Tokyo Tower," Kimiko continued.

"And let me guess," Rai said, rolling his green eyes. "It's at the top, isn't it?"

"Uh…" Dojo closed his eyes for a moment. "…I don't think it is. It seems to be closer to the center…"

"Near the antenna?" Kimiko guessed, and as soon as she'd made that assumption, they spotted the glittering item resting next to the central beam of the tower, one level above them.

"Couldn't you have let us off just a little higher?" Rai complained.

"Don't worry about it," a voice spoke up from behind him, and he looked back to see Jack hovering in the air. "We can fly, remember? …Thanks to me."

"Oh, sister…" Omi muttered, looking reluctantly down at the little dragon clasp at his chest. He hated traveling by HeliPack, and still couldn't understand why Jack was so fond of it.

The others switched the machines on and followed him up to the higher beam, like a swarm of bees, in formation.

While they flew up, the puttering sounds of ten helicopter blades whirling in the air, Shelly remained on the beam. She looked down at the streets below. They should be coming soon; she'd sent out the message to Gerald…

Sure enough, a group of non-Asian boys on motorcycles were approaching the base of the tower. Surely, they'd have some way to get up. There had to be a levitation spell somewhere in Wuya's repertoire. She could count on them.

She unbuckled the HeliPack clasp, since she wouldn't be needing this frivolous machine. Surely, none of the Xiaolin Warriors would miss her. They'd be too busy recovering the Shen-Gong-Wu…especially when Bob and the CFPU gang arrived. A small, twisted smile formed on the side of her mouth, and she swiftly jumped down from rafter to rafter to meet them and review their plans.

It took a while to reach the next beam, since the Tokyo Tower was so large. Jack was the first to land, and glanced around, trying to find the Harp of Harmonies. Kimiko landed next to him, and since she'd memorized the location when they'd first seen it, she immediately rushed towards the central beam where she'd known it was waiting. Rai, Clay, and Omi landed behind them a few seconds later.

Kimiko was closing in on the glowing harp by now, and she reached out to grab it. At that instant, a glowing comet shot up on the other side of the tower.

"What the…?" Rai, Omi, and Clay said at the same time.

The comet flashed closer to the center pillar, and the five of them were surprised when Bob emerged from the flames, slamming down on the beam next to Kimiko.

"What? How did you get up here so fast?" Omi asked, struggling backwards in surprise.

Bob slowly stood up again, and a thin, mysterious smile bent onto his face as the blue, blazing flames slowly flickered out around him. "Magic," he said, and the hint of mystique in his voice made everyone shiver. "Now," he quickly changed tones, becoming more demanding and aggressive. "Hand over that Shen-Gong-Wu."

"Not on your life," Kimiko answered. She reached back, snatched the Harp of Harmonies, and tucked it securely under her arm. "Just try to get it from me."

"Sure," Bob replied, whipping out a familiar rubbery pink square. "But you knew I was going to try anyway, didn't you? …Wu Jin Duraflex!"

The Xiaolin Warriors gasped as the substance began to shape itself, as if being sculpted by an invisible smith. For a moment they wondered what it was making. The Wu Jin Duraflex would become the first thing that had been on Bob's mind…what could _that_ be?

Then, their hearts pounded as they each in turn realized what it was making. "…Dojo?" Omi whispered to the dragon, who had shrunken again, and was sitting on the beam next to him. "I never thought Shen-Gong-Wu could kill people."

Dojo nodded gravely. "If their user intends them to kill…then yes, they can kill."

At last, the Wu Jin Duraflex finished morphing, and fell, conveniently back into his right hand. It had become a gun. A tension-filled silence fell over the group of magic wielders.

Suddenly, Jack broke out laughing. "Ha ha! It's pink! He's got a bright pink gun! That's hilarious!"

Bob swiveled around and pointed it directly at his chest. "Who's laughing now?" he warned.

"Uh…uh, sorry!" Jack cried, holding up his hands and shaking, nervously.

Bob turned back towards Kimiko. "Now…hand over the Shen-Gong-Wu, or you'll be mighty sorry."

Kimiko's eyes widened. She'd never had to face an opponent with a gun before…this was supposed to be a kids' show, but unfortunately, she'd have to figure out how to deal with a bullet very fast.

"Could he really kill her with that Shen-Gong-Wu?" Rai cried, stepping a little closer, in concern.

"No, not with one shot," Dojo explained. "When the Wu Jin Duraflex forms a weapon, it is always at half power of the real object. It can't kill her with one shot, but it might injure her pretty badly." Everyone held their breath, waiting for the action.

"…No," Kimiko at last decided, hugging the harp closer to her body. "I won't just give it to you. I can't just give in to your threats!"

"Okay," Bob simply said, squeezing the Shen-Gong-Wu pistol a bit tighter. "You're asking for it." His finger reached for the trigger…and pressed it down.

Kimiko gasped. There was no time for her to jump over his head, or start up her HeliPack and fly away. Omi and Clay gaped as Rai ran forward in a useless attempt to help her.

_Smash!_ Just in the nick of time, Jack had flown around him and in front of Kimiko. The pink plastic bullet slammed into a transparent, silvery bubble that covered the two of them. It seemed somehow stronger and wider than it had been before.

"Oooh…" Dojo said to himself, and anyone around who cared to listen. "It's the second level Silver Shield. I forgot that he'd be able to do that after becoming a Xiaolin Apprentice."

Jack held out his hands, supposing this would help support the dome-like shield. "Bob," he said, glaring despicably at him. "If you try to hurt her one more time, you'll have to go through me first!"

"Oooh, I'm so scared now," Bob replied, a joking smile curling his lips. "Spicy's out to get me! Oh no!"

Jack gritted his teeth. "Well, I'll show you what you really _should_ be afraid of. I'm not going to submit to your stupid comments anymore! Explosion Crash, Metal!"

Bob was caught off guard, and one of the flying yin-yang plates slammed into his body, and the Wu Jin Duraflex gun flew out of his hands. As soon as it broke contact with his hands, it returned to its original square shape.

"That's another thing about the Wu Jin Duraflex," Dojo told them. "As soon as you let go of it, it reverts back to its original shape."

Bob quickly jumped up again and grabbed the item back. He growled in frustration. "So you really are one of them, aren't you? Strange…"

At last, Jack's Silver Shield broke, since he wasn't sensing danger and his concentration was starting to break up. "Yes. I am one of them. And I've got powers. I'm not powerless to stop you anymore."

Kimiko stood up and gave him a little smile. "Okay!" she said, taking a fighting stance. "Ready? Let's attack him together! Judallet…" A wall of flames sprang up around her, but she didn't get to finish the attack yet.

"…Crash!" Jack added, and his sheet of metal merged with the flames around Kimiko. Now, a burning, fluorescent orange hunk of metal was hanging in front of them, and instinctively, they knew what to do.

"Meltdown!" they called together, and the flaming comet zoomed towards Bob.

"Wow," Omi commented, purposely glancing down towards Dojo. "I didn't know we could combine our powers and create entirely new attacks like that!"

"Uh…I'm sure Master Fung was planning to tell you sometime…" Dojo said, looking down at the beam beneath him.

"What about _you_?" Rai insisted, glancing over, with one raised eyebrow.

"Er..I kind of forgot."

"You've been forgetting a lot of things lately."

"Well, what can I say? I'm getting old. Fifteen hundred years tend to do that to you."

Bob simply tucked himself close to the beam, and the comet passed right over him. By now, he'd gotten the Wu Jin Duraflex to morph again, this time into a large cannon-like weapon, and shot it before either of them had time to retaliate.

Kimiko and Jack were both too stunned after the surprising new attack they'd just performed to anticipate another strike. The pink plastic ball the cannon produced slammed into Kimiko. She screamed and flew backwards, dropping the Harp of Harmonies in the process.

Jack sprang into the air, caught her, and placed her back on the beam. Bob was distracted for the moment, recovering from the recoil of the Wu Jin Duraflex.

Kimiko didn't waste one moment and scrambled for the Harp. Bob threw the cannon into the air, let it morph back, and pocketed it once again. He too, went scampering across the beam towards the Harp of Harmonies. Kimiko's hand grabbed the bottom portion the same time Bob's hand grabbed the top.

"Kimiko!" the dark-haired gangster boy cried. "I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown! Your Star Hanabi against my Wu Jin Duraflex. The challenge is to walk a tightrope to the top of the tower."

"You're on," Kimiko agreed. She was burning with anger by now. This guy was really starting to get on her nerves. How dare he use Tokyo as his battle grounds! His arrogance and violent nature was only aggravating her further. _Jeez_, she thought behind her narrowing blue eyes. _This guy's an even bigger jerk than Jack is! …Er, was._

"Xiaolin Showdown!" they cried in unison, and everyone was magically transported to the top of the Tokyo Tower. Omi, Rai, Clay, Jack, and Dojo sat on a hovering platform to the sidelines, and two gigantic poles with platforms on the end, the same size as the tower, erupted from the ground. Tightropes ran from the edge of these platforms to the tip of the tower. Kimiko landed on one, while Bob landed on the other. They exchanged resented glares for a moment, before calling, "Gong Yi Tan Pai!" and stepping off.

Kimiko flew across the skinny wire. All that balance training at the Xiaolin Temple had obviously been paying off. She had excellent poise and swiftness across a narrow surface, and at first she was beating Bob by a long shot.

Then, Bob held out his Shen-Gong-Wu. "Wu Jin Duraflex!" The plastic square molded into some kind of jet-propelled platform that strapped itself to the wire. "Ha _ha_!" he taunted as he zipped by Kimiko on the device. "See you at the finish line!"

"Not so fast!" Kimiko yelled. "Star Hanabi, Fire!" The flaming Shuriken star crashed straight into the rubbery device at Bob's feet.

"Aaaugh!" he yelled as he was knocked out of it, and was flung downwards. Kimiko took that moment to sprint as fast as she could across the wire.

Bob's wire burst into flames. He grabbed the end if it, swung himself back up, and quickly turned the Wu Jin Duraflex into a fire hose and doused the rope before the fire ate through it. Kimiko had passed him again, so this time, he flipped the Shen-Gong-Wu around and turned it into a cannon again. His aim was apparently off, because instead of hitting Kimiko and blasting her off her rope, the pink cannonball took a big chunk out of the tip of the Tokyo Tower.

The debris scattered everywhere…and since Kimiko was right near it, it was falling all around her. She screamed, but strangely enough, the fiery chunks of the Tower tip were almost comforting. It felt wonderfully relaxing to feel the warmth of the fire against her skin in the cold night. The pieces of ruins passed over her, leaving her in an inferno above the rope.

The Xiaolin Warriors gasped from the floating platform. "Kimiko!" Jack cried, instinctually zooming forward to help her.

Rai jumped to the edge of the platform and grabbed his hood just in time, yanking him backwards. "Hold on, Spicer. You can't interfere with the Showdown, remember?"

"But…Kimiko…" Jack softly objected, falling back onto the floating platform. It did look like the chances were a bit slim for the Dragon of Fire, but the originalthree Warriors knew better. There was no way a wall of flames would stop Kimiko.

From inside the fireball, she opened her blue eyes, glowing lighter from the flickering blaze around her. The world was wavering back and forth in a sea of reddened haze. It looked…so inviting.

Kimiko knew that Bob had to be passing her by now, but she couldn't break away from the spell of the flames dancing around her. This was her world…her city…her _life_ that they were fighting above. Although she'd never felt a particular connection with this landmark, it was a representation of Tokyo itself. She couldn't allow this evil jerk to destroy that. If he was out hunting Texans and other ethnic groups, the Japanese people couldn't be too far behind.

The rage burned within her body, while the fire around her passed harmlessly over her body. Fire couldn't hurt fire…only make it stronger. Kimiko closed her eyes once again. _How _dare_ he! There's no way I'm letting him destroy the beautiful cultures of the world. Our differences are what make the world an amazing place to live in. I won't let him do this to my life!_

And when she opened her eyes again, something was emerging out of the flames. A round, transparent globe hovered into her hands. Inside, red flickering particles crackled with anticipation. It looked like it had emerged out of the fire itself, and had formed a bubble around one portion of it. Kimiko looked deep into the object, and the fire inside reflected in her blue eyes.

The substance began to permeate out of the globe and absorb into her body. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt her at all. She didn't feel a single prick as the flames passed through her skin. When the glowing red aura had finally settled, a wall of flames, in bright vibrant colors of red, orange, and yellow surrounded her. They twisted and twirled in a pattern, forming a cocoon. Kimiko only sensed a slight warm sensation, as the flames magically burned off her temple robes and formed new clothes in their place. She was spinning at a high speed, as she transformed, yet she didn't feel the least bit dizzy. Finally, to complete the effect, she jumped out of the blazing inferno, landing gracefully back on her high wire. The flames circled around her for a moment and then disappeared as she held a hand back, completing her final pose.

Omi and Clay gasped at the effect. Rai's mouth fell open, and Jack's eyes bugged out. How in the world could it be possible? Even Dojo was stunned. They never thought Kimiko could ever look so…beautiful.

She stood poised perfectly on the wire, in her brand new costume. It was sparkling red and gleamed in the dark night around her. A flame symbol was etched into the armor-like chest, complete with warriors' shoulder protectors. Her short pleated skirt was made of hard armor plates, and netting wound around her arms. Her shoes were red high heels with two ribbons crisscrossing across the ankles.

Kimiko finally opened her eyes again and stood up, out of her pose. The power of the Element Orb had instilled some kind of knowledge within her. She knew what she needed to do. Looking ahead, she noticed that Bob was almost to the top of the tower now. Sprinting ahead, she realized that she now had much increased speed. Spreading like a wildfire across the tightrope, she was rapidly advancing on the finish line.

Bob was just ahead of her. Noticing her presence and her advanced power, he decided to make a last desperate move and sprang from the wire, lunging towards the end.

"Star Hanabi, Fire!" Kimiko yelled, and the words seemed to echo, powerfully around her. Unfortunately, her noble efforts were useless. Bob's hand touched down against the smooth surface of the tip of the Tokyo Tower an instant before a roar of fire sliced straight towards him, and burnt him to a crisp.

"So…what happened?" Omi asked as the floating platform brought them safely back to the beam where they had been before the Showdown started.

Kimiko gasped and fell to the ground from the release of so much extra magical substance. Her red costume flickered and gradually her Xiaolin Temple robes faded back onto her body.

"Kimiko!" Jack cried, running forward, free to make contact with her again. He kneeled next to her and wrapped an arm around her. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I think that was…my Element Orb…" she softly said, struggling into a sitting position. "I don't really know what happened…"

Just then, Bob stepped out of the smoky backdrop which was curling around the beams of the Tokyo Tower. He took slow, wobbly steps, and struggled just to hold himself up. He was entirely covered with soot, and a large portion of his loose, blue shirt had been burnt off. Pieces of his dark hair were sticking out of the perfect braids they'd been in before, and his dotted medallion was melted flat. Despite the scorched, beat-up appearance of his body, he was smiling, with the Harp of Harmonies tucked under one arm.

"_Huh_?" Omi gasped.

"He won again!" Clay added, in disbelief.

"That's right," Bob replied. "I can beat you pathetic monks, even with your full powers…and keep you from obtaining them as well." He held up the glittering Star Hanabi, which was also in the pile of Shen-Gong-Wu he held in his arms.

"No…" Kimiko realized. "That's…my token Shen-Gong-Wu! You made me use it on purpose!"

Bob smirked. "Ah, now it all becomes clear…" He turned away for a moment to cough, since the smoky haze around them was closing in. "Well, no use hanging around here anymore; I've done what I came here to accomplish. I'll see you again very soon…" The gangster boy disappeared into the smoky fog, and flew back down to the base of the tower, where his posse was awaiting his return.

"Oh, darnit!" Kimiko exclaimed, pounding a fist against the solid metal beam. "I can't believe it! How could he have won? I blasted him with the Star Hanabi! Two seconds earlier and I would've had him beat! _Why_?"

"It's okay," Jack said, pulling her into a hug. "You tried your hardest. And at least you found your Element Orb, right?"

Kimiko sighed. "Yeah…but what good is it without the Star Hanabi? I can't perform my upper level attacks. I didn't know how it really worked in that Showdown, so that's probably why I lost…"

"Aw, we'll get it back from him next time," Rai tried to comfort her.

"That's what we said last time about my Fist of Tebigong," Clay spoke up.

"Be quiet, I'm trying to give support here!" Rai whispered back at him.

"Yes!" Omi agreed, chiming in to drown out Clay's negativity. "The next time we challenge Bob, we'll win both the Star Hanabi and the Fist of Tebigong back from him! I just know it!"

"Don't get your hopes up," Clay told him. "That guy's been gettin' mighty lucky. He's on a 2-0 winning streak."

"Well then, it appears that his luck has just run away! C'mon, everyone, let's get back to the temple!"

"Yeah!" Dojo agreed, magically enlarging once again. "Another Element Orb found! That kid may be on a winning streak, but we're on an Element-Orb-finding streak! Now, let's go back and throw a party for Kimiko!"

"Dojo…" Omi replied, as he flew back up onto his back. "Didn't you hear Master Fung this afternoon? No more parties…for anyone."

"I feel a little bad for y'all," Clay said as he climbed up next to the little bald monk. "I got to have a party when I found my Element Orb, but the rest of you ain't going to get one."

"Oh. It's okay," Kimiko told them. "I didn't need a big party. I'm fine as it is."

"But we'll have a little one later tonight," Jack told her, putting his arms around her again. "I finished cleaning the DJ machine, so you can come down tonight and we can have our own little party…"

Kimiko laughed and teasingly tried to push him away. "Jack…come on. Don't embarrass me."

"You know, you looked hot in that new outfit of yours," he continued, ignoring her.

She raised an eyebrow and glared back at him. "…Shouldn't I look hot _all _the time?"

"Oh! Yes! Of course you do!" Jack cried, suddenly struck with panic. "I just meant that you looked even hotter than your usual, um…hotness."

"Of course she was hot…" Omi chimed in, to everyone's amazement. "…She was surrounded by flames!"

Rai sighed and chuckled to himself. "Uh, Omi, we're talking about a different kind of hot here."

Omi looked over at them with question marks in his eyes. "What other kind of hot could there _be_?"

The others all laughed at him. "We'll explain it to you when you're a little older," Rai told him. And so the Xiaolin Warriors spiraled back towards the temple with disappointing news…but not without hope for the future.


	5. Title Wave

It's my last day of school! Wooo! (Even though I have summer work…grumble…) So, to celebrate, I'm putting out another chapter. Sorry this one's pretty boring. Well, what do you expect; it's the Omi one. (Dodges knives thrown by Omi-lovers.) Actually, I kind of like Omi, he just gets sickening because there's so much focus on him. I seriously just made up the Element Orb level attacks as I was going along, so sorry if they seem kind of weird…and I actually wrote out combined attacks for every combination of the five characters, but it would take forever to put all of them in the story. I think I might list the abilities later. Oh, and I really can't make Showdowns. Sorry about the weird garden-cleanup thing…and just watering a tree will not recover it from bring burnt, I know, but it's magical, anything can happen.

I now also own the Instance Eraser, and yes, I know the Instance Eraser has a very similar ability to a Shen-Gong-Wu later in Season 2 (Season 2.5), but I had created it long before the official Shen-Gong-Wu with the same ability appeared on the show.

Thank you everybody! You know who you are. Oh, and Tamer, I've actually never heard that saying before…oh well, cool, I used something without even knowing I was using it. Unfortunately, this chapter's not exactly like that… I don't know why someone asked, but Julie's not in this story. She was from the future. She doesn't exist right now, and if Jack and Kimiko never have a baby, she never will. Besides, even if they do, they could end up with a boy instead, or a different girl with red hair and blue eyes. It's up to me. Whoa…I'm starting to freak myself out…

(-)

Chapter 5: Title Wave

Key Tactic #2- Always give the customer the kind of personal attention he deserves.

(-)

It felt peacefully silent aboard Dojo Airlines, aside from the low blowing breath of the wind over his back. Clay has even curled up and fallen asleep, and Jack and Kimiko were too busy snuggling to notice anything around them. Omi was sitting around the dragon's neck, holding his long head scales, with an intense expression twisting his young face. Rai was bored, so he just glanced around at the other Xiaolin Warriors. Wait a second…something wasn't right here.

"Hey," he finally spoke up, shattering their serene fantasy. "…Where's Shelly?"

Omi's face relaxed and he glanced around them. Clay sat up and searched the area. Kimiko and Jack broke away, also looking for any sign of the brown-haired girl.

"Yeah…" Omi commented, "What happened to her, anyway?"

"She was here when we arrived," Jack told them. "I remember fitting her for her new equipment. …She didn't seem too happy about it…"

"Jack, none of us are too happy about it," Rai bluntly told him.

"Dojo, do you remember seeing Shelly during the Showdown?" Omi asked, looking down at the head below him.

"Uh…hmm…well…now that I think about it…"

"So she was here when we arrived, but she's now here now…" Rai said, partly to himself. "Dojo…you make a horrible babysitter!"

"Well, there are six of you now. It's getting kind of hard to keep track of everyone all the time. And why am I supposed to be watching you every minute of the day? You should be able to take care of yourselves by now."

The Warriors rolled their eyes. "C'mon, let's go get her," Rai said, and Dojo twirled back around in the sky and headed back towards Tokyo.

"No, wait!" Jack suddenly cried, and everyone swiveled around to stare at him like he was insane. "This is an excellent opportunity to use the communicator devices! I'm sure she must have hers on…she _better _have it on…but, anyway, we could just call her and find out where she is!"

Everyone remained silent after this, not wanting to admit that his gadgets had actually been useful for once.

Jack flipped down his microphone and reached up to adjust the knob on the side of the headphones, obviously setting it on the airwave for "Shelly". "…Hello? Shelly? This is Jack Spicer. Do you copy?"

"…Jack?" a surprised and obviously very rattled Shelly slowly answered. "Uh…yeah, I copy."

"We're so sorry we left you behind," Jack continued, trying to speak for everyone else. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I fell off the tower soon after we'd landed," Shelly began. "But I'm okay, thanks to that helicopter thing you gave me…"

"_Alright_!" Jack suddenly cried, punching the air with a fist and interrupting her. "It's Jack Spicer to the rescue! Woohoo!"

Everyone rolled their eyes and emitted sighs of various sizes. "Just find out where she is," Rai said, in a deliberate drawl.

"Oh, right," Jack said, shaking himself. "…My name sounds kind of weird with 'to the rescue' after it, anyway. …So where are you? We're coming back to get you."

"Don't bother," was Shelly's immediately reply. "I, uh…hitched a ride with some friends. We're headed back towards the temple right now."

The others, who had tuned into the conversation using their communicators, sighed once again. "You can turn back around, Dojo!" Kimiko called up to the dragon's far-away ears. "She got a ride with some friends! …Whoever _they_ are…"

"_What?_" Dojo cried. "All this flying back towards Tokyo…and I didn't even have to go back? Uh…now, I gotta turn around…" He made a sharp swoop to the right, until he was flying in the opposite direction. "Geez, I should start charging you kids airfare. I'd be rich by now."

"Uh…well…we were just worried…" Jack struggled to figure out what to say next.

"_Why didn't you call us to say you'd gotten a ride_?" Kimiko suddenly exploded into her communicator, now that she had it switched on and properly tuned.

"I'm sorry; I just kind of forgot," Shelly casually responded.

"Forgot? _Forgot?_ How could you just forget about us! What other, more important things could you have had on your mind!"

"Well, I was kind of occupied trying to find a way to get back to the temple…I was panicking! How was I supposed to remember that I had a communicator thingy on my head, and especially on only the first day I've had it!"

"Well, you should have been paying closer attention! You remembered about the _HeliPack_ didn't you? Why didn't you remember the headset! And I should think you'd be frantically searching for a way to contact us!"

"How was I supposed to know…?"

Omi, Clay, and Jack had already switched their headsets off, not wanting to hear anymore as the two girls continued to bicker over the airwaves.

"I can't believe you…!"

"I don't know why I even bother to…!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rai tried to play peacemaker, holding an arm above Kimiko as if Shelly were really there yelling at her. "Can you just stop fighting for two seconds? Just be grateful that she's okay and that we can go back to the temple now…"

"Butt out of this, Rai!" Kimiko and Shelly suddenly cried in unison and the startled Brazilian jumped backwards at the sound of the stereo. "Well…" he admitted, shaking off the shock, his voice a little wavy. "…At least I got you two to agree on something!"

At last, Kimiko sighed. "Yeah…I suppose you're right, Rai. Fighting like this is just silly. Er…glad you're okay, Shelly. We'll meet you back at the temple."

The low female voice on the opposite end seemed a bit disbelieving, but answered in a steady tone all the same. "Oh. Okay. Well, yeah, sorry to argue like that. See ya." A second later, the crackle of static roared back at her, and she knew that the careless brunette girl had switched her headset off once again.

Kimiko gritted her teeth in frustration, but made no further comments. In her mind, she was suspicious of that girl. She'd always seemed a bit odd, but now, there was something definitely wrong about her. It would take a while to find out what that really was.

(-)

The dark, dingy walls of the underground hideaway seemed strangely comforting. Perhaps this was because Kimiko was getting more used to this place. It felt distantly familiar…almost like that bittersweet day when they'd first gotten together. A surprising calm after the nerve-wracking storm… But, now, that nerve-wracking storm had been the loss of the Star Hanabi…and another victory for Bob Sanderson.

Kimiko was sitting, exhaustedly on the end of a gray stone platform while a shining, upgraded Jack-bot was doing her hair. These taller, smarter versions were milling around, performing various tasks, from checking on the defense perimeter of the Shen-Gong-Wu vault to doing the laundry. Kimiko was a bit apprehensive as the metallic hands of this one pulled her hair up into a braid. As soon as she'd decided to dye it purple, the robot had dispensed a deep dye spray that instantly transformed it into a lovely shade of violet.

In the background, various men were softly screaming, and Jack was moping around the computer desk, searching for J-pop downloads to please her. At first, Kimiko felt insensitive about forcing her tastes on him, but one could only listen to so much punk, metal, and techno before going completely insane.

"Well, here we go," Jack at last announced, pointing at the screen. "Puffy AmiYumi. You must like them."

"I really don't care," Kimiko admitted, as the Jack-bot swiveled to the left to braid the rest of her hair. "Anything's better than this…this…freakish yelling."

As if on cue, the music machine bellowed "BLOOD!" and Jack switched it off. "Errr…well, how about the radio instead?" he suggested, but when he switched it on, the only songs on were being sung in Chinese.

"Never mind," Kimiko said, as the robot braided her braids together. "You can just turn it off." The Jack-bot finally finished her new hairdo, and flew backwards, giving a thumbs-up sign.

"Am I freaking you out again?" Jack asked, slumping his shoulders a bit in disappointment.

"No, no," Kimiko immediately answered, hopping down from the bench and hugging him. "I'm just…worried, and a little sensitive…I get angry very easily, you know. I blew up at Shelly, and…you know." She sighed for a moment and took another deep breath. "I just still feel mad about losing…I can't believe I lost to that jerk!"

Jack nodded. "Yeah. I understand." He glanced over at the digital clock on the computer desk and then at a rack of CD's in the corner. "Well…let's just forget about that, now. We have to celebrate! I have a few rock CD's; you don't mind some rock, right?"

Kimiko nodded and looked up at him with a slight, hesitant smile on her face.

"And I know I don't have a cake or anything. I tried to have my chef-bots cook one, but they ended up making some weird rubber goop instead… but we could just, uh, share my pudding cups or something…"

Kimiko smiled a little wider and almost broke into a laugh. She squeezed Jack a bit tighter. "Aw, you really are a sweet guy, Jack," she told him.

"Uh…is that a good thing?" he asked, struggling for breath.

"Yes," Kimiko confirmed. "Well, I think it is."

At last, she let up on him a little, and he took the opportunity to call, "Hey, Fifty-Eight, get out here! You're late!"

"Sorry, Master Jack," a hovering Jack-bot apologized as it flew up in front of them. Then, it held out a confetti ball, and cracked it open, the little multicolored paper dots raining down on Kimiko. A banner popped out after the confetti, reading "Congratulations, Kimiko!" On cue, a swarm of eleven other Jack-bots zoomed up in formation behind Number Fifty-Eight, and in four-part harmony, they all began to sing, "For She's a Jolly Good Dragon."

Kimiko laughed and broke away for a moment to stare in wonderment at them.

"Another new upgrade," Jack explained. "They actually have pitches now, and they can sing."

Kimiko, surprised with his sudden expression, leaped back over and gave him a quick kiss. Jack struggled in surprise, but eventually got a hold of himself and ordered the other robots to load the music machine and get out the pudding cups. This was going to be the best congratulatory party yet.

(-)

Ah…what a wonderful, ethereal evening… It was so great that it almost seemed like it hadn't happened. After a rigorous, yet satisfying hour partying with Kimiko, Jack was content just to rest his head against a workbench and let his robots clean up the confetti, streamers, and empty plastic containers. For awhile, he'd been getting a slight suspicion that Kimiko was starting to turn away from him again, but now he wondered why he'd ever thought that. It was a comforting reassurance, and its presence soothed Jack's nerves. Slowly, he began to drift off into an imaginary dream world, and the concrete reality of the basement room was gradually melting away.

_Slam_! At the unusual sound, Jack sat bolt upright and swiveled around, trying to find the source of the noise. It had better not been one of the robots, or else they'd get a good fixing-up for disturbing his sweet slumber.

"Oh," a low, icy, female voice suddenly spoke up from near the entrance. "Was I interrupting something?"

Jack quickly turned back towards the door, to see, to his surprise, Shelly standing just in front of the doorway. She leaned a thin, elegant hand against the door casing and shifted, posing herself there. "Uh…no!" Jack finally managed a reply. "No, you weren't interrupting anything! My robots and I were just…cleaning up!" He scampered off the platform and grabbed the handle of a broom, suggestively.

"Oh, that's good," Shelly replied, stepping daintily away from the door and sliding towards him. "I'd hate to think I was hindering your progress."

"No, of course you weren't!" Jack nervously replied. "In fact, I wasn't even making any progress!"

This was very unusual…what could their mysterious Dragon of Ice want with him, anyway? Not that he didn't want anything to do with her. He actually thought she was quite pretty and she'd been very kind to him. Still, there was just something strange about her…and her spirit partner. The little white blob named Bobby twirled around Shelly's waist, and then over and across her shoulders. It was almost like he was purposely accenting her figure…and perhaps he was. "So…what did you want?" Jack asked, setting the broom down for a moment and staring into her suspiciously sparkling eyes. For a moment, he felt like he was being sucked into a twinkling vortex.

"I don't _want_ anything," Shelly replied, and her eyes seemed to deepen. The vortex grew wider, and Jack shuddered, stepping back and trying to pull himself out of the endless blue. "I just wanted to thank you," Shelly continued. "You know, that helicopter thing of yours saved my life."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," Jack said. He had to turn away from her for a moment to break the entrancing spell of her eyes. "You know I supply everyone with HeliPacks. It's just a generous offer on my part…"

"Well, I just wanted to show my appreciation." The icy girl had reached the bench by now, and she carelessly flopped on top of it, looking out at the room's contents. The Jack-bots were finishing up the cleaning, and floating or walking back towards their cupboards. "Hey…" Shelly observed, swinging her legs, absentmindedly. "Did you make all of those robots, and those machines as well? …Gee, that's amazing…"

"It is?" Jack spoke up, surprised. "Well, of course it is! I used to be an evil genius, you know."

"So now you're a good genius?" Shelly said with a mysterious smile.

"Well, I prefer to call myself a 'non-evil boy genius'. 'Good boy genius' just sounds weird. And it sounds like I'm calling myself a dog."

Shelly chuckled. "Yes, I suppose that would be awkward." The little spirit Bobby flew up behind her and seemed to land on her shoulder and nuzzle against her cheek. "The others have told me about a time before this when you fought against them. It was a struggle for the Shen-Gong-Wu…I'm surprised you were able to do that all by yourself."

"Well, not _all_ by myself," Jack admitted. "I had the robots. …And some other guys I hired. …And Wuya, of course…"

"Wow," Shelly said, and Bobby continued to nuzzle her cheek, lovingly. "That's a lot of help. I'm surprised you lost."

Jack turned towards her, but immediately averted his gaze to avoid looking in her eyes. "…Well, I don't think I lost," he stated, although his voice faltered a little. What was this girl trying to get at? He still couldn't figure it out…which only made Shelly all the more intriguing.

The brown-haired girl slipped back off the platform, and her dress fell elegantly around her mature figure. For a moment, Jack wondered how old she was. From her height and figure, she looked at least seventeen. "You're right. I don't think you lost either. I mean, you got to come here! And you still got to keep your robots, too. What about those other people you mentioned?"

"Other people?" Jack asked, blankly staring at her hips and chest. "Uh…what other people?"

"The other people you say helped you out back then. I don't see anyone else here…"

"…Oh! Them! …Well, of course not. Tubbimura was this big fat ninja, and he was just in it for the money. Vlad went back to Russia, and besides, they've already had him here. Of course Wuya wouldn't; even though she was a ghost, she was the former leader of the evil Heylin sorceresses…"

"A ghost?" Shelly asked, her eyes widening interestingly. "You mean she was like your spirit partner? I didn't know there _were _evil spirit partners out there." Bobby perched on her shoulder, and his eyes grew into brown circles as if to say "_What?_"

"Well, I guess so," Jack simply answered. "And the rest of them either betrayed me or didn't want anything to do with me."

Shelly smiled and slid, suspiciously around him to slide her arms over his shoulders and squeeze him into a tight hug. His cheeks flushed pink from the sudden contact, and especially when he noticed that she was even taller than him. "But all that's over now. I'm really happy you're here, Spicy! And now you know no one will betray you and do those horrible things to you anymore!"

Jack looked questioningly out, and saw the blue-capped white wisp flying towards him. Strangely enough, a flicker of excitement flashed through his body, but quickly wore off when Shelly released him and Bobby turned to follow her.

The Dragon of Ice was beaming as she swept towards the entrance. "Well, I'll see you again really soon! And thanks again for saving my life!" She disappeared into the shadows of the hallways just as quickly as she had come.

Bobby followed after her, but took a moment to swivel around and throw a wink over at Jack before darting out the concrete door.

Jack blinked his wide red eyes. "Okay…" he asked himself after he was sure they had left. "What was _that_ all about? …And did she just call me _Spicy_?" Shelly had always been a bit odd…but, somehow, he couldn't help feeling like he wanted to see her again. It had been nice having her over…and from her actions and words, it even looked like she _liked _him!

_Hold it_, Jack told himself, turning away from the door. _I have a girlfriend- Kimiko! Even if she does like me, I can't think about her like that. But…she _does_ have a better figure…and she actually _really _likes me. Kimiko just likes me because she feels bad for me…_

Jack held his head and tried to shake those thoughts from his mind. "Stop it!" he muttered to himself. "I don't like Shelly! I don't even know anything about her! And she didn't even make sense. Besides, that ghost of hers…"

He stopped right after that sentence and stood straight up again. He'd been about to say "that ghost of hers really freaks me out", but the truth was, it always felt alright when Bobby was around. Something…something just was there again that hadn't been there for a long time. That little ghost was always with her…a constant companion.

Jack looked over at a pile of broken robot parts, and saw some familiar, snaky wires sticking out of it. He approached the junk pile, and grabbed a hold of the wire. When he pulled the cord, another robot broke away from the pile. It was one of his old, deactivated Wuya-bots that hadn't been destroyed. Maybe it was the prototype. Jack held the solid, robot form of the ghostly witch and studied it, poking at its ink holes and dangling it by its "hair".

"…A constant companion…" he mused for a moment, but then broke out of his trance and shoved the stupid old thing into a drawer. Who needed one?

(-)

"Typhoon Boom, Wind!" Rai called, slapping his hands together and jumping into position.

"Tornado Strike, Water!" Omi added, twisting around and landing on top of Rai.

"Judallet Flip, Fire!" Kimiko called, twirling around and landing perfectly positioned in a handstand on Omi's head.

"Seismic Kick, Earth!" Clay said, next, stomping the ground and jumping to the right side of the formation.

"Explosion Crash, Metal!" Jack finished, throwing his power at the ground and popping up on the left side.

"Dragon X Penté Formation!" the five of them called in unison. Then, on cue, they each started to glow in their respective element colors- red around Kimiko, blue around Omi, green around Clay, white around Rai, and silver around Jack. They each jumped out of position, now with increased magic strength. However, something was different this time.

"What the…?" Kimiko asked, and looked down to discover that she was in her red Element Orb costume. Clay noticed that he too was dressed in his princely green tunic with its collar, Earth symbol pin, and cape.

"Cool," Rai commented. "So whenever we do the X Penté Formation, whoever has found their Element Orbs will instantly transform? I can't wait to find mine now!"

"Yes," the worried voice of Marylyn Orre spoke up from behind him. She was supervising the Dragons' training session today, since Master Fung had said they needed "some serious improvement." "Well, it's going to be a long time until you can successfully attain yours without being corrupted. So, let's all get to training!"

Mistress Marylyn…" Omi asked, approaching the legendary red-haired woman. "The last time we were fighting Bob Sanderson, Jack and Kimiko combined their elements to damage him. I wonder if you could perhaps teach me to do this with some of my other teammates?"

Marylyn lit up when she heard this. "Oh, you two discovered how to execute your combined attacks?" she asked, looking over at Jack and Kimiko. "Oh, you make such a good team! I'm proud of you, Jackie!"

"Hide me," Jack grumbled as he trudged out of formation.

"Of course I can teach you. It's as easy as normal attacking. You just have to figure out when to call out and what part of your phrase you should say. Now, Omi, Clay, Rai, come here, boys."

Clay and Rai stepped up beside Omi. "…Like I would ever combine powers with Omi…" Rai complained. Omi looked back at him with a sad look on his round face. "Oh, alright," he told him. "I will if I really have to sometime…"

"Okay, Omi, you try to combine powers with Clay," Marylyn announced. "So, Clay, you start off first…"

"Okay, ma'am," Clay replied. He took a deep breath and raised his leg to hit the ground with it. "Seismic…" a wall of earth appeared as he struck the ground.

"…Strike!" Omi chimed in, blasting water at the soil that Clay had created.

"…Growth!" the both called, and instantly, a deadly plant emerged from the soil. It almost ate Marylyn, but she jumped out of the way just in time.

"Excellent," she praised as the two of them came back down from their attack poses. "You almost got me!"

"We're sorry," Omi admitted. "We didn't mean to aim for you."

"It's okay," Marylyn said, giggling and holding out a hand. "The attack just went for the nearest living object, and that happened to be me. So, Rai, did you want to try a combined attack, too?"

"Yeah, alright. I guess I could use some practice," the Brazilian replied. "Hey, Clay, want to try it with me?"

"Sure, why not?" the cowboy agreed. Once again, somehow he knew that he was supposed to begin the attack. "Seismic…" Again, he quickly stomped the ground, but this time it just created a fissure, like the whole attack normally did.

"…Boom!" Rai finished, creating a dangerous gust with his hands. The blast of air slammed into the rock fissure and it created a fast-spreading earthquake of an enormous proportion.

"…Ripple!" they called together. Unfortunately, they couldn't stop the spreading attack and it upturned a tree near the central pool of water.

"Uh…sorry about that," Clay apologized as he looked at the tree in the distance, its thin, ragged roots sticking up in the air like the limbs of a dead spider.

"Oh…it's okay…" Marylyn hesitantly told him. Fung might be a bit angry, but it was all in good training, right? "We can just plant a new tree. In fact, why don't you fill in that hole and go get a new seed?"

Clay obediently began to stride off towards the Xiaolin Temple greenhouse room, but Rai lingered behind, rolling his eyes. "Do we really _have _to?" Marylyn gave him a look, and he slouched after Clay in defeat. "Gee…you're no better than Master Fung…"

"Now," Marylyn continued, smiling sweetly at the remaining Xiaolin Warriors. "Shall we move on to your Shen-Gong-Wu synchronization training?"

Kimiko, Jack, and Omi blinked at each other, and then at Marylyn.

"Okay, now, those of you who have them, take out your signature Shen-Gong-Wu."

Kimiko frowned and turned her pockets inside out. Omi pulled out the Orb of Tornami and rolled it around on his arms, haughtily.

Jack looked at her like she was asking him to destroy the world. "Erm…bit of a problem here…" he spoke up.

"Oh…" Marylyn said for the third time that day. "Yes. I see. Just wait here a minute, Jack, honey."

Jack grumbled again and crossed his arms as his mother disappeared into a supplies shack to look for something. "I wish she wouldn't call me baby names like that," he complained. "I'm going to have to talk to her about that. It's really getting on my nerves."

"Aw, why not?" Kimiko said. "She's just showing her love for you. I think it's really cute!" She stepped up and threw her arms around his neck (even though she had to reach up) "Jackie, honey!" she cried.

"Now don't _you _start with that!" he snapped back at her.

Omi stopped twirling the Orb of Tornami around on his fingers for a moment to stare at them. For a moment, he remembered the time before when Jack would've much rather been stealing Shen-Gong-Wu than having a kung-fu lesson, and Kimiko would've much rather been kicking him in the head than hugging him around the neck.

A few minutes later, Marylyn returned and tossed a long wooden staff with a wound handle in the middle towards Jack. "Here," she said. "You can practice with this bo staff for now. When you receive your powers, you won't be using the Soul Scepter most of the time, anyway."

"How will you know it's safe? Don't you still have to keep it locked up?" Jack nervously asked as he tried to position his hands on the handle portion. "You know, Wuya's still inside that thing…"

"Well, if you receive your Element Orb powers and aren't corrupted by the power, than you should have no problem with the Soul Scepter," Marylyn explained. "The Element Orb's power is the ultimate test of a spirit's strength."

"Really?" Omi commented, turning to look at Jack. "Then you really have to concentrate and improve! Eight months…"

"Yeah, yeah," the Dragon of Metal replied, turning away from the little pipsqueak. "It's important that I train, so I'm not affected, I know…" Omi always did this to remind him that he'd only been at the temple for eight months, while the rest of them had been there for almost two years.

By now, Rai and Clay had finished replanting the tree they'd destroyed and wandered back over to them "We're doing Shen-Gong-Wu synchronization training," Omi informed them, twirling his Orb of Tornami for emphasis.

"Really?" Rai said. "All right! Finally we're going to do something interesting!" He whipped out his Sword of the Storm and stood ready to blow anything away.

Clay sighed over the loss of his Fist of Tebigong and went to stand next to Kimiko so he could sympathize with her.

"Okay, Omi, you can start," Marylyn Orre announced. "First, start off by performing your normal attack, except adding "dragon" between the first and last word."

Omi blinked, confusedly. "Okay…so…Tornado Dragon Strike, Water!" Of course, nothing happened because this was actually the attack he'd receive at full dragon level.

"Now, your Shen-Gong-Wu…" Marylyn urged.

"Orb of Tornami, Water!" Omi called. This time, the orb overflowed with water and sprayed a stream through the garden.

"And at this time, you'd normally say "Ultimate Tsunami" to channel both your own power and the Shen-Gong-Wu's power into one devastating attack. The water from the Orb of Tornami began to flood the center pool, so Omi quickly shut it off. "You next Rai," Marylyn told him. "And Omi, you keep practicing with combining your moves. Okay?"

"Typhoon Dragon Boom, Wind!" Rai cried, eager to see what his attack would be like. He waited a few seconds, assuming that his attack would be running its course now. "Sword of the Storm, Wind!" A large, swirling gust of wind spiraled out from the tip of the sword and swept, powerfully across the garden. This time, the miniature tornado veered to the right and took out another tree. "Oh brother…" Rai grumbled, looking at the damage. "I just replanted the other one…"

"Uh…" Marylyn spoke up, trying to break the stunned silence. "Well, right about now, you'd be finishing it with "Ultimate Tornado."

"Darn…I have to go get another seed…" Rai complained as he trudged off back towards the greenhouse.

"Okay, my turn!" Jack eagerly called, jumping into the center.

"Show-off," Omi murmured underneath a cough.

"I heard that!" Jack cried, looking over his shoulder at him. "And you're one to talk, big head."

"Just get on with it," Kimiko told him, trying to prevent another fight.

"Explosion Dragon Crash, Metal!" Jack cried, performing his normal attack movements and looking rather silly and awkward, since it obviously did nothing. "Soul Scepter, Metal!" he added, holding the bo staff out, dramatically. "And, um…what comes after that?" He looked, questioningly to his mother, who was holding her head in her hands on the sidelines.

"Hmm…I really don't know," she admitted, looking up into the sky, as if searching for the answer there.

"You don't _know_?" Jack cried, aghast. "But…you _were_ a Dragon of Metal! You were the greatest Dragon of Metal there ever was! You should remember your own attacks!"

Marylyn shook her head. "I may have been a Dragon of Metal, but none of us ever had our Element Orb attacks. This is the first time they've ever been unleashed, since they were first created. I only knew the others' finishing attack phrases because Fung told me about them. He forgot to tell me the Metal Orb's finishing phrase. …I don't think he knows it either."

Jack stared at her for a moment, before breaking out in complaint. "…It's not fair!" he cried, making a show of throwing his substitute scepter to the ground. "I can't have a useful Shen-Gong-Wu…and now I can't have an Element Orb attack either!"

"I'm sure there's a good reason…" Marylyn tried to reassure him, but Jack still didn't look too reassured. "Clay, Kimiko, would you like to try yours too?" the temple leader partner asked. "I know you don't have your signature Shen-Gong-Wu, but just pretending would be good enough, just to get a feel for how the attack flows."

"Okay," Kimiko slowly agreed. "I'll give it a shot. Judallet Dragon Flip, Fire!" Since she was already in her flashy, warrior-like Element Orb outfit, the plumes of flame circled around her body with much greater magnitude. She was engulfed in a ball of flames as she flipped head-over-heels several times in midair. " Star Hanabi, Fire!" Since she obviously didn't have the Star Hanabi, the attack came to a grinding halt, and she dropped from the sky.

The other Xiaolin Dragons screamed as the dancing flames touched the ground and ignited the entire garden's lawn. At that moment, Rai was returning from the greenhouse with his tree seed, and his mouth fell open at the sight of the temple garden ablaze. The blazing treetops licked the sky, and even the pool of water seemed to be on fire.

"Tornado Strike, Water!" Omi commanded, and in combination with the Orb of Tornami doused Kimiko's inferno. It took a while, but at last every fire was out. With a sickening creak, every tree in the garden began to fall over, and in a unanimous thump, they all fell, dead.

Rai almost fell with them. "You've got to be kidding me!" he cried. "This time it wasn't my fault!" he yelled as he ran up to their side. For a moment, even Marylyn's eyes were wide as she stared at the destruction.

"Can I try my Element Orb attack now?" Clay asked, looking questioningly over at her.

"Um…" she finally managed to speak, and turned back to them with a funny smile that suddenly reminded them of Jack. "I think that's enough training for today…" she finished.

(-)

Blue…ah, the comforting blue. The blue of her dress…the blue of her eyes…the blue of his own matching sweatshirt. Unbeknownst to the preoccupied residents, Bob Sanderson was sitting perched on the edge of the Xiaolin Temple's blue roof. Blue…this was a different shade of blue, and he didn't like it one bit.

Why…? Why did this have to happen? Well, he guessed, it was all for the sake of the plan. Still…it made him feel uncomfortable…almost disappointed and angry. That Raimundo incident had been enough…and now, that stupid Jack Spicer… Bob clutched the medallion hanging over his blue sweatshirt. One day he'd get them…he'd get them all. Remembering today's experience, he realized that at least he got to do fun things to help the plan along, but…it still wasn't the same.

Bob looked, forlornly down at the squished, half-melted medallion in his hand and swung his legs off the edge of the building a bit. _We were destined to meet_, he remembered thinking when he'd first noticed Shésui's plus-sign dot eyes. But Kimiko had destroyed the medallion during the last Showdown. Slowly, the Xiaolin Warriors were destroying his cherished relationship, and he couldn't stand for it any longer!

Just at that opportune moment, the magical energy detector around Bob's wrist broke into shrill blaring, and he knew then that another Shen-Gong-Wu had activated. Those Xiaolin Warriors would be going for it. Just like Shésui would have said…it was time for revenge.

(-)

"Shen-Gong-Wu Alert! Shen-Gong-…what happened to _this _place?" Dojo came slithering out the back door of the temple and stopped abruptly when he got a look at the garden.

"Oh…just a bit of trouble with the training," Marylyn told him. "Didn't realize exactly how powerful the Element Orb attacks would be…and that Clay and Kimiko actually can perform the first step."

Dojo shook his head for a moment, trying to clear out all thoughts and identify the new Shen-Gong-Wu he was feeling. "It's…it's…the Instance Eraser!" he finally announced, and pulled the Shen-Gong-Wu scroll out of nowhere to explain. When he unrolled the magical item, the blue circle in the middle swirled around and settled on a picture of what looked like a blackboard eraser with a long chute at the end. "The Instance Eraser," Dojo read, "Is a device, which, when used properly, can erase preset memories from a person's mind. The eraser must be finely tuned to prevent loss of additional memories or total amnesia."

The Xiaolin Warriors stared, worriedly at each other. "We've _really _got to make sure Bob Sanderson doesn't get a hold of that," Kimiko stated. "He could make us forget everything!"

"Yeah, that's true," Jack replied. "But couldn't we just use the Vase of Viscous Visions to bring the memories back?"

"Yes," Dojo explained. "The Instance Eraser and the Vase of Viscous Visions are what we call "contradictory Shen-Gong-Wu". One combats the other."

"So what would happen if we used the Reversing Mirror on one of them?" Rai asked.

"Stop asking such complicated questions!" Dojo snapped back at him. "Augh! My brain's going to explode!"

"So it is not such a threat then," Omi decided, brightening, and ready for a battle. "Where is the Instance Eraser?"

"Uh…" Dojo tried to reply, pulling himself together. "I forgot." The Xiaolin Warriors rolled their eyes. "Okay, okay, it's right…_there_!" Dojo finally pointed out. He jumped up and pointed straight towards the end of the garden's small pool of water.

"_There_?" Kimiko doubtfully asked. "Right in our own backyard? How come we hadn't found it earlier?"

"The Sands of Time was right in our backyard too," Rai recalled, "But we didn't find that for a long time either."

"So what are we waiting for?" Omi interrupted their arguing. "Let's go get it!" At the sound of his statement, the five of them eagerly ran towards the other side of the garden pool. Indeed, a little chalkboard eraser was leaning inconspicuously against the stone border of the pool. They were only a few yards away from it.

Then, at that moment, a familiar evil boy with cornrows in a blue sweatshirt and baggy jeans crashed down just on the other side.

"Bob Sanderson!" Omi cried, coming to a startled halt at the sight of him.

"No kidding," Bob quickly replied. "And this time I'm going to get you for good!" His chestnut eyes were narrowing as he glared at them, along with his forehead creasing. He looked exceptionally angry this time. What had happened to anger him this much? It was no use wondering, since in a few minutes, the Instance Eraser would be his if they didn't do something.

Bob dashed towards the edge of the pool, and Omi flung himself through the air, heading straight for it. Naturally, the instant Bob grabbed a hold of one end of the eraser, Omi's hand flew down on the other. "Bob Sanderson, I challenge you to Xiaolin Showdown!" the little yellow monk cried.

"Do you always call people by their full names?" Bob asked, in annoyance.

"Only my enemies," Omi quickly snapped back. "My Orb of Tornami against your Star Hanabi."

"Okay…" Bob replied. "But you know by wagering that, you have a greater chance of losing it and never obtaining your full powers. Thanks for helping me out, little guy."

Omi set his round face into a determined scowl. "I won't lose," he said. "And I call for a Shen Yi Bu Dare. My Third Arm Sash against your Fist of Tebigong. The challenge is…first one to clean his side of the garden wins!"

"Ah, I see what the little guy's tryin' ta do," Clay commented, with a smile.

"Omi's always such a risk-taker though…" Kimiko worriedly said. "If he wins, he'll get our Shen-Gong-Wu back, but if he loses, he'll lose his own Shen-Gong-Wu, plus the Third Arm Sash… And Bob hasn't lost a Showdown yet…"

"Well, there's nothin' we can do about it now…" Clay said back to her. "He's already made the challenge… And Bob's accepted it too." He observed this as he looked back at the two of them.

"Let's go! Xiaolin Showdown!" they said in unison. At those magical words, the temple garden suddenly grew a lot larger, and a blue line separated Omi's portion from Bob's portion. It also became a lot dirtier. Not only were the trees and grass burnt to a crisp, but pieces of trash and globs of mud had been randomly placed in hard-to-reach spaces. Kimiko, Jack, Clay, Rai, Dojo, and Marylyn all sat on a puffy cloud, floating above and looking down on the Showdown. When everything stopped morphing and changing, Bob and Omi glared at each other and called, "Gong Yi Tan Pai!" together.

"Orb of Tornami, Water!" Omi called, immediately getting started on clearing away the muddy gunk strewn over the trees, the ground, and on his side of the water.

Bob looked down at the Shen-Gong-Wu in his hands, realizing with stupidity that there wasn't much cleaning he could do with the Fist of Tebigong and the Star Hanabi. "Err…Fist of Tebigong!" Bob called, pounding the ground and trying to compact the burnt grass into the ground.

"Third Arm Sash!" Omi called, using the sash, along with his own hands, to pick up the trash on the ground. The sash automatically chucked the trash onto Bob's side of the garden, creating more for him to clean up.

The vengeful gangster boy simply used his Fist of Tebigong to either pound his trash into oblivion, or bump the rest onto Omi's field. At last, he found a way to clean up the gunk. "Star Hanabi!" he called. Without the fire element aiding it, the Star Hanabi just acted as a regular throwing star. With a little bit of magical assistance, Bob got it to spin continuously around his pool of water. Eventually it was spinning so fast, that the mud flew out of it, and it created a water cyclone, which, in turn, sprayed the pieces of mud clean. The Xiaolin temple crew gasped from up above, realizing that for the moment, Bob was ahead.

Omi desperately called, "Tornado Strike, Water!" and used the swirling pieces of water to push his pieces of trash up on top of the burnt trees on Bob's side. Now, he'd have to get them down, as well as remove them from his side.

Bob quickly used the Fist of Tebigong to punch the side of the tree and knock the trash down, before pounding these two to oblivion. He knew this was actually getting rid of Omi's trash, but if he didn't, the persistent little monk would've just flung it back on his side.

Omi then progressed to consistently watering the grass and the trees, until they turned green and began to grow again. It naturally took a long time to finish re-growing plants, so while he was still watering, Bob was redirecting the water from his pool towards the ground. New grass was growing much quicker, because he'd already gotten rid of the burnt grass before it. While the ground was being watered, he called, "Fist of Tebigong!" and smacked the trees Omi was watering, causing them to capsize. Now, he was ahead again.

From the audience cloud, Rai and Jack gaped, while Dojo stared, Kimiko bit her nails, and Clay covered his face with his cowboy hat. Marylyn, however, remained silent and stoic, looking down at the competition with level focus.

One of the falling trees smacked into little Omi, and he went flying backwards, straight into his pool of water. By now, it had finally registered in his egotistical head that he was actually losing. There was no way he could win at the rate he was going now.

_I can't lose! _Omi thought desperately. _If Bob Sanderson gets a hold of the Instance Eraser, he'll make us forget everything! I can't let that happen!_

With this Shen-Gong-Wu at his disposal, the evil boy could make him forget his friends…He'd forget Clay…he'd forget Jack…he'd forget Raimundo…he'd forget Kimiko…and they'd all forget about him too. But, worst of all, he'd forget the Xiaolin Temple…he'd forget Dojo…and Master Fung…and they'd forget about him. Omi already knew what it was like to not know who his father was…but if Bob got a hold of the Instance Eraser, he wouldn't have a father or any friends at all. He'd be all alone. True, the Vase of Viscous Visions could be used to bring his memories back…but how could it, when no one remembered what it was or how to use it?

_No…_Omi thought, hopelessly in the deep, inner caves of his mind. _I've lived here all my life. Master Fung is like a father to me. And when I met my friends, they only made life better for me…I don't want to forget. I can't let him just take them from me. He won't just take everything away from me like that! As much as I always think I'm above the rest of the Xiaolin Dragons…I need them. I can't let everyone just disappear like that!_

By now, salty, invisible tears were forming underneath Omi's thin, closed eyelids as he lay at the bottom of the pool, underwater. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He should be drowning by now…he realized Or Bob should have won already. But everything stayed the same, and some transparent object was moving towards him, sinking in the small garden pool.

_The Orb of Tornami?_Omi wondered, but something about this round object seemed different. Unlike the Shen-Gong-Wu, this globe had an actual bluish-black sea sloshing inside of it. The waves flowed in and then receded, like an actual ocean. The globe settled down into the water, and straight into Omi's hands. The little monk pressed his body against the globe, and he felt as something inside the globe began to shine and slip through his body.

A second later, the water around him flew up and formed into a cocoon around him. Jet streams of water surrounded the little monk, and covered his body, dissolving his clothes away and hardening to create new ones over him. From inside the globe, Omi opened his eyes. _This must be…my Element Orb! _He realized. _My powers! I can do this now!_

At last, the spurts of water receded and dropped back into the pool, filling it with water again. Omi flew up, landing on top of the pool. He could stand on top of the pool now. Water could always stay on top of more water. He felt certain that he could even walk across the water if he tried. Omi's Element Orb outfit was similar to Clay's except much smaller in proportion. It was entirely dark blue, and his tunic jacket had a collar like Clay's, boots, a blue cape, and a pin in the shape of his water symbol.

Clay took the hat away from his face and gasped, as did everyone else on the cloud, except for Marylyn. "It's his Element Orb! Omi's received his powers!" Dojo cried.

Bob glanced over when he saw this transformation. His final tree was being watered, and in about five minutes, he'd win the Showdown. He sneered, carelessly as he saw Omi in uniform. "Ha! That doesn't impress me at all, kid. I've beaten both your other friends, even though they had their full powers too. You've got no chance. In a few minutes, I'm going to win!"

"Yes," Omi agreed, giving the boy a resentful look. "You did beat both Clay and Kimiko after they had received their full powers…but there's a big difference now. I know how to use them! …Tornado Dragon Strike, Water!"

Just as he had been taught, Omi jumped up, while giant, magical jet streams of water flew at lightning speed around him. His highest-level attack… "Orb of Tornami, Water!" he added, after he let it swirl for a few moments. The Shen-Gong-Wu reappeared in his hand the moment he called its name, and a powerful spray joined the enormous spurts, making them larger, and filling in their spaces. Omi had now turned into a large column of water shooting up into the sky. Now, it was finally time.

"…ULTIMATE TSUNAMI!" the boy's little voice screamed from out of nowhere. Instantly, the column shot down, straight towards his section of the field.

The Xiaolin Warriors looked up in a panic as the tons of liquid came shooting down at them. Mere milliseconds later, the waves crashed, and the entire garden section filled to the top with water, even catching the audience cloud. The passengers began to swim towards the surface. Jack choked for a moment, startled by being suddenly submerged, but followed them. Thankfully, last summer, Rai had taught him how to swim. Everyone broke to the surface, but then realized that they were sitting in a pool of water in midair. At last, the water receded, and plopped them back onto the cloud.

When the flood finally disappeared, Omi's garden section had fully grown back, and everything was sparkling clean.

Bob looked to his pitiful, half-grown tree just before the mutated landscape disappeared, and in a flash, they appeared back in the garden where they'd first begun the Showdown.

Omi beamed up at his friends as they rushed to him. For a joyous moment, he didn't even notice the three Shen-Gong-Wu in his arms.

"Omi, you did it!" Kimiko cried, rushing up and giving him a "girl-hug."

"Yeah, partner!" Clay called, running up beside her. "You did great!"

"Careful," Rai told them. "Don't feed his overconfidence too much."

Jack hung back and just stared at them for a moment. Suddenly, he didn't feel like joining in their excited celebration.

Kimiko grabbed her Star Hanabi, and Clay his Fist of Tebigong. They all had their full powers now. They were ready for anything.

Omi held up the Instance Eraser in victory. "What do you have to say _now_, Bob?" he taunted. "Not so powerless now, are we?"

Bob fell to the floor and panted, but he glared back up at them with a pinched, malicious, infuriated expression. "You haven't seen the last of me," he warned, his voice whispery and constrained, as if trying to keep from screaming. "It doesn't matter if you all have your full powers. We'll get to you. Even if I lost this Showdown, it doesn't matter! You and your evil temple will cease to exist! We'll show you!" And with that, Bob walked towards the wall of the garden, behind a tree, and disappeared.

"That was weird," Kimiko said, breaking away from Omi for a moment.

"Yeah…and what did he mean by 'we'?" Rai asked, suspiciously raising one of his thick eyebrows.

"Probably him and his evil motorcycle gang," Clay explained. "Strange that he hasn't been bringin' them with him anymore."

"Aw, who cares?" Kimiko replied, hugging Omi again. "He got all the Shen-Gong-Wu back for us! Let's have a celebration! …No, wait. We can't."

Marylyn stepped up next to them, smiling in relief. "Impressive," she said. "Perhaps you'll all be ready after all…"

"Thank you, Mistress Marylyn," Omi replied, bowing in respect. When he came back up again, his blue uniform faded out, and he had his temple robes back on. The blue Water Orb appeared again in his hands. "I shall train my hardest to be the best ever Xiaolin Dragon!"

"See what I mean?" Rai said, elbowing Kimiko and staring over at Omi.

"Oh, okay, okay," Omi corrected himself. "I shall be the best ever Dragon of Water! There. Happy?" They began to laugh and joke with each other as they walked away.

"Wait a minute," Jack finally spoke up, and everyone froze and turned to look at him, on edge. What was wrong now? "…Where's Shelly?"

(-)

It was a surprisingly quiet and peaceful day in the Xiaolin Temple, and Master Fung was quite enjoying it. Everything was just how it should be…the Xiaolin Warriors out training in the garden with Marylyn Orre, and the other residents in their separate sections…Dojo out checking the Vault. It was so quiet. It was _too_ quiet.

At last, Master Fung got up from his sitting position at the base of the altar in the central chamber. His serene reflection time would have to wait. There was something wrong here…he could just feel it. He walked, tall and straight down the halls, peeking into the rooms as he went, to make sure nothing was amiss. Then, when he finally came to the hallway where the Xiaolin Warriors resided, he found a certain brown-haired girl still lying in her chamber.

"…Shelly?" he asked, standing in the doorway and staring down at the girl on the mat. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah…" Shelly slowly replied, her voice strangely croaking, and dragging its syllables out. "I'm just a little sick. I don't feel well… I'll be okay, though." She pulled her covers up above her head as she talked, causing her already odd voice to become muffled.

"Well…" Master Fung decided. "Make sure to call me if you need anything, all right? The others should be back soon…"

Shelly just nodded and wiggled closer into the covers, coughing in a high voice.

Master Fung walked back off down the hall. There was something strange about Shelly, and even more so about her sudden illness…and mentally, he noted it down.


	6. Winds of Change

WARNING: Very long chapter alert. Longest chapter thus far. Rai chapter! Jack is next! Also long chapter for romance and relationship troubles. Woohoo. I'm exhausted. The beginning is kind of stupid and weird, with Megan and Rai's sister, but ah, well, it's just…there. At least I show a little more of my version of Rai's family. Don't worry, it's going to be getting a bit more exciting soon. Especially next chapter. So stick around because the big twist is coming up soon!

I also own the Biao Lu Basin. Biao Lu means "reveal". But it won't be used for awhile yet.

(-)

Chapter: Winds of Change

Key Tactic #3- If at first you don't succeed, lie, lie again.

(-)

A chill was in the air and at the Xiaolin Temple, that wasn't all that was in the air. February 13…Rai checked the calendar tacked on the back wall of his room-cubicle and whistled contentedly to himself. Though the others didn't know yet, this was a special day for him. In just a few hours, he'd be going to the airport…

"Hey, incoming!" a familiar voice boomed from the end of the hallway. Everyone poked their heads out of their cubicles to look, suspiciously over at Jack. He was standing at the end of the hall, near the door leading down to his lab. "Just a heads up; I'm going to be baby-sitting today."

"_Baby-sitting_?" Kimiko asked, a bit doubtful herself. "Baby-sitting _who?_"

"Who else?" Jack replied, rolling his eyes.

"Oh," Kimiko realized. "Megan."

"Hide me!" Dojo cried, shooting up Omi's robes, desperately.

"Why is that?" Omi asked, as he ripped the dragon out from underneath his clothes. "I thought you broke away from your former family."

"Not with my aunt," Jack admitted. "She's not that bad, so I sent her a postcard one day…but I forgot that it had a picture of the Xiaolin temple on it, so now she knows where I'm living. She agreed to keep my secret if I'd baby-sit Megan again…why do I do stupid things like that?"

"I don't know," Rai teased. "We've been trying to figure that one out for awhile now."

"Do you baby-sit her…?" Omi asked, "Or does she baby-sit you?"

"Will you stop teasing me about it?" Jack complained. "Besides, she'll be here in a few minutes, so you better get out of sight."

"You said it!" Dojo cried, this time shooting under Omi's pillowcase. "I'm still trembling over that other time. The…bonnet…the teacups…oooh, scary!"

"Well, I ought to get going anyway," Rai finally announced, swinging a blue backpack up onto his shoulders. "I've got a little personal business to attend to."

Kimiko, Omi, and Clay all raised their eyebrows at him, suspiciously. "Where are you _going_?" Kimiko insisted, glaring into his innocent face.

"_What_?" Rai said, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm going to the airport. Leandra's coming to stay over for Valentine's Day, and she's bringing Maria with her, for company."

"Maria?" Clay asked, still suspicious.

"She's my little sister!" Rai quickly replied. "Geez, why do you always have to be so suspicious of me?"

"Well, sorry, but you could have at least told us about your new visitors."

"Visitors?" Omi cried, jumping up. "Why didn't you tell us? We have to make them feel welcome!" He madly rushed out towards the central room to prepare, becoming a yellow-and-red-blur in the distance.

"Well, I'll see ya later," Rai called, casually waving and stepping out the back door.

Jus then, a loud banging came from the sliding door on the opposite side, right behind Jack. "Oh, Jaa-ack!" a little chirpy girl's voice spoke up from the other side.

"Oh, no…" he muttered, and took a deep breath before reluctantly reaching for the door handle.

(-)

Rai waded through the crowd of Chinese people at the airport. Other, Caucasian people stood in the midst of them, most likely tourists, waiting for other family members to arrive, or the plane to take them back home. Rai felt very much like a tourist as small groups of Chinese people stared, or whispered to each other as he passed by. Just what was this Portuguese boy doing here?

Rai looked up as a PA announcer crackled on, and announced something in Chinese. How was he supposed to know what had happened? he wondered, but when he noticed the electronic board at the front of the room, the code A11519 lit up in red characters on one of the lines. That was Leandra and Maria's flight number!

Just then, a gate opened further ahead, and parts of the Chinese crowd rushed towards it. Though they were jabbering in random Jibberish that Rai couldn't even hope to understand, happiness and gratitude was the same in any language. He saw as black-haired men and women greeted other black-haired men and women, small children, boys and girls, hugging them, kissing them, or giving them piggyback rides. The sentiment felt the same wherever he went in the airline waiting room, and the entire crowd seemed to emit a single word- "Welcome!"

Finally, Rai reached the doorway and found two very familiar girls with brown, tanned skin, and brown hair to match…just like him. The taller, older girl was wearing a long, white, casual dress with a shawl, her hair up in ponytail, tied with a sparkling ribbon. Her blue eyes lit up at the sight of him. The little girl beside her also seemed to brighten in spirit. She wore a pink, puffy coat and a pair of jeans with a tee-shirt with a flower on it. Her short, chin-length brown hair, clipped back with a pink butterfly clip, and large, innocent green eyes resembled her brother's.

"Rai-Rai!" the little girl cried and jumped into his arms, leaving her pink plastic suitcase behind for the moment.

"Hi there, Maria!" Rai called, giving his little sister a hug. "How's everything been over there, girl?"

"Boring," Maria replied, in a high, complaining voice. "We had three shows last week! I'm getting sick of doing flips. Tony came back for a week from his school, but he's not as fun as you, and he never had time to play with me…"

"Okay, okay," Rai said, laughing as the bright little girl prattled on. He picked her up and placed her safely back on the tiled floor. "You can tell me the rest later. We've got to get going to the Xiaolin Temple."

"Oooh, oooh!" Maria cried, skipping a bit ahead of him. "The Xiaolin Temple! I can't wait! Let's go, let's go!"

A little, amused smile appeared on Leandra's face as Rai walked back to meet her. He took her suitcase like a proper gentleman and placed Maria's little plastic one on top. "Thanks for inviting us to come," Leandra told him, graciously. "Some times I really have to get away from the circus, you know?"

Rai nodded. Performing was fun, but sometimes you really needed to get away from all the glitz and glamour and live a normal life. Rai didn't tell her that he had really asked her here for Valentine's Day, but she'd find out soon enough. As he began to walk back towards the entrance with his new company, Rai ran through the different steps of his romantic, Valentine's Day plan. Part one was complete…

(-)

"Weeeee!" a little voice cried, as it spun around and around on top of a circular brush. "Yay! This is so cool! Why didn't you tell me you'd gotten some new toys, Jack?"

Jack Spicer stood a few feet away from the device, biting his fingernails in anxiety. "Th-that's _not_ a toy!" he managed to call, but his weak, worried voice didn't have any of the authority this commandment required.

Megan sat perched on top of one of the virtually unused "Scrubby-bot's" scrubbing floor brush as it whirled around and around. Her shoulder-length curling blond hair flew out behind her. For the past two hours, the little girl in the pink polka-dotted dress had examined and "played" with practically everything in Jack's non-evil lab. The jump-roping Jack-bots were still playing double-dutch with each other, and the DJ machine was blaring cutesy pop songs. Megan had even monopolized Jack's hammock, first declaring that she would sleep there tonight, even though he objected that she wasn't going to be sleeping over.

"Hey…" Megan spoke up, finally switching off the Scrubby-bot and hopping off of the brush. "What's that stuff?" She pointed to a pile of hoses and masses of metal in the corner. "It looks fun!" she exclaimed and ran towards the pile.

"No!" Jack desperately resisted, jumping in front of the pile and defending it. "Don't touch it! That's something I'm working on. It's not finished yet, so you can't play with it! …Not that you can play with anything that's finished either!"

Megan frowned and crossed her arms. "Aww, you're no fun," she complained. She turned around and drew a pattern of squares on the floor with chalk. "Okay, who wants to play hopscotch!" she cheerfully asked the crowd of Jack-bots in front of her. A few of them hovered up to the pattern on the floor, but she quickly dismissed them. "No, wait. You don't have feet! That wouldn't be fair. Cheaters!" The Jack-bots hung their metal heads and floated away. Slowly, Megan turned around, with a glint in her blue eyes. "Hey, Jaa-ack!"

Jack quickly hid underneath a large sheet of metal, peeking out from behind it and cowering in fear. "No! Not hopscotch! Please! Anything but hopscotch! I was always so bad at that game…"

"Oh _really_?" Megan threatened, stepping closer to the metal sheet. "_Anything_?"

Fortunately (for Jack), Rai chose that instant to barge into the lab to introduce his new guests. Since Jack hadn't been upstairs to witness Lenadra and Maria's arrival, he had to come down here to introduce them. Megan turned around, startled at their sudden appearance. "Uh…hey, Megan," Rai said, looking around, confusedly. "Jack around?"

"He's hiding in that pile of junk he's hoarding," she told him, pointing in the direction of the metal sheet. "He's afraid of hopscotch."

"Oh, hi, Rai!" Jack called, jumping out from behind the metal and trying to drown out his little cousin's last sentence. "I didn't know you were coming by. And…um, hi Bird Girl and Rai's little sister!" He waved, and smiled, stupidly at them.

Leandra frowned at being called "Bird Girl", but Maria seemed indifferent, staring amazedly around the lab.

"That's Leandra," Rai corrected, shooting Jack a warning glare. "You remember her from when you guys came to get me in Brazil. And this is Maria." He turned and pointed at the two residents. "And those, as you may know, are my fellow Xiaolin Warrior, Jack Spicer, and his cousin, Megan."

Megan took her cue and curtsied, to introduce herself properly. "I am Megan Mustards, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Behind her, Jack rolled his eyes at the phrase. It was just one of many refined, rich family social phrases he'd come to despise. Unfortunately, his aunt's family, the Mustards' still did these kinds of things.

"Oooh," Maria admired. "I like your dress and the bow. It looks very pretty."

"Why thank you," Megan sweetly replied, bouncing the bottom of her upturned, styled hair. "It's only the finest children's designer name, you know. Hey…" Her blue eyes lit up with an idea, and a smile appeared on her face. "I know! Could _you_ play hopscotch with me?"

"I'd love to!" Maria replied. "Hopscotch is one of my favorite games! …Can I, Rai-Rai?"

"Sure, why not?" Rai responded. "But why don't you do play outside? You'll have more room to run around in the temple's garden."

"But…I wanted to still play with the robots," Megan disappointedly said, looking over at the group of Jack-bots who were still relentlessly jumping rope.

"Take them with you," Rai suggested, and Megan lit up again.

"Okay!" she complied, and grabbed the Jack-bots, dragging them out of the room behind her. "C'mon, Maria! Let's go play!"

"Yay!" Maria called, running after her. "This is so cool! Hopscotch in a Chinese garden with a bunch of robots!" Soon, the two girls had disappeared to the garden and the lab fell silent for a precious moment.

Jack took a deep breath and gratefully ran to their side. "And once again, the amazing Raimundo Pedrosa saves my life," he announced. "I really owe ya one. She sent the Jack-bots into a jump rope relapse…they were doing so well, too… And I have to wash out the DJ machine _again_!" With that, he whacked the stop button on the large stereo and exorcised it of its sweet, flowery pop CD's.

"No prob," Rai said, glancing over at him for a moment. "No offense, Jack, but you really don't know how to baby-sit little girls…especially when you're afraid of them."

Leandra giggled to herself. At least listening to the two boys was worthwhile entertainment.

"I am _not _afraid of little girls!" Jack argued. "Just Megan. She's not a normal little girl…she's…destructive."

"Yeah, sure," Rai said, trying to hide his chuckles. "She was pretty nice to _us_ when we first met her."

"She didn't try to invade your property," Jack said. "My poor Jack-bots…I'll have to start them all over again on the ten-step program…"

Leandra giggled again, which reminded Rai of her presence. "Well, I've got to get back upstairs," he said, starting towards the stairs, escorting Leandra with him. "Have fun fixing your junk."

They exited through the concrete door, as Jack stood there, dumbstruck for a moment. "_It's not junk_!" they at last heard his voice echo as they ascended the dingy stairs.

(-)

The bright, shining, beckoning sunshine eventually drew everyone to the surface and the Xiaolin Warriors had all met each other in the garden, among their special guests. Clay and Omi were joyfully training with each other in the background, performing kung-fu moves and tricks of their own. Rai was simply sitting on a stone wall, looking after Maria and Megan as they played dolls with the Jack-bots. Shelly sat a few inches away from him, staring into the sky as her little spirit partner curled around in her lap. Jack was sitting next to them, drawing up plans of some sort.

Finally, Kimiko hovered around Leandra, styling her long, shining brown hair with a brush, a comb, and several elastics and barrettes. Already, the two of them were starting to get along, and Rai was slightly grateful. It was good for Kimiko to have a few friends of her own gender. She and Shelly still didn't get along, and frankly, he couldn't understand why. Shelly had always been pretty nice to him. He turned around for a minute to check on their progress. Leandra smiled over at him, as Kimiko pinned another portion of her hair up. "So, how's it look so far?" she asked.

"Great!" Rai replied. Actually, he thought those bouncy banana curls looked a little strange on her, since her hair had always been iron-flat, but dared not actually say it. Two angry, offended girls was something he definitely did not want to have to deal with right now.

"Augh!" he suddenly heard a little voice cry in the distance. "Ow! Oww, my leg!"

Rai immediately turned around to look in the direction of the two little girls. Megan was lying in a pink, crumpled heap on the ground, clutching her right leg just on the other side of a tree. The Jack-bots continued to play Hot Potato with each other, unaffected by the girls' sudden disappearance. Rai jumped up from the wall and headed towards the garden. "Jack!" he yelled at the boy genius whose head was still buried in his papers. "What kind of baby-sitter are you? Your little cousin has just hurt her leg!"

At last, Jack set his pile of papers down on the wall and stood up, watching Rai run off towards her. "…She's probably faking it," he skeptically announced, but Rai didn't hear him. He sighed, despairingly, and ran after him.

"Hey, Megan, are you okay?" Rai asked, kneeling to the little girl's level as soon as he reached the spot.

"…I think so…" Megan answered, looking up at him, her blue eyes brimming with tears. "I just accidentally fell down and hurt my leg…I might have twisted it. Ow!"

"Megan…" Jack spoke up, at last running up behind Rai. "Please don't pull this on Rai; he's really gullible."

"Be quiet, you evil insensitive jerk!" Rai snapped back at him. "I think she's really hurt!"

Just at that moment, Maria, from her perch in a tree, pulled a string. Two buckets of paint came tipping down, spilling straight on top of Rai and Jack. In an instant, they were covered in pink paint, and Megan and Maria were jumping up and down, laughing at them.

"What did I tell you?" Jack said, peering out from underneath a glob of pink on his head. "Megan, I'm telling Auntie on you!"

"You can't do that," Megan bragged. "Because if you do, then I'll tell Uncle Henry where you live!"

Jack slowly backed off and hid his pink self behind the tree. "See…" he squeaked, in a small, terrified voice. "Little girls are really scary!"

Later that night, Rai gave Maria a warning for what she'd done, and then blamed the whole thing on Jack for his "evil" family having a bad influence on her.

Mrs. Mustards dropped by to pick up Megan, but she couldn't leave until she'd gotten Maria's address and telephone number. At least the girls had finally found a friend their age to play with…and it looked like their friendship was going to last quite a while.

As the little girls were waving and saying good-bye against the winter sunset, Jack and Rai glanced at each other for a moment. Though neither of them would admit it, a tie had appeared, further tying the two boys together.

(-)

At last, it was here. Valentine's Day had arrived, and you could almost feel it in the very atmosphere. And parts 1-3 were now complete. Early that morning, Rai had treated his girlfriend to breakfast in her own cubicle, and then escorted her for the rest of the day. Right now, the Brazilian girl was getting dressed and getting ready to go out for a walk with him. Rai walked alone along the temple path, picking out flowers he found along the way to make a bouquet with. At least, he _thought_ he was alone.

"Oooh, look at Raimundo, picking flowers out of Master Fung's flower garden," Omi taunted as he strolled up and stood at the edge of the patch. "I suppose our Dragon of Wind has been getting more in touch with his feminine side!"

"Shaddup," Rai snapped over at him. "These are for Leandra. I'm taking her out for a date today, for the special occasion."

"Hey, that's right," Kimiko said to herself. She was gazing out the round window of the Xiaolin Temple at the two of them. Rai was so sweet, picking flowers for Leandra. "…Yeah. Today's Valentine's Day." At last, she turned away from the window and began to return to her cubicle.

She shut her mouth and tried not to voice her next thought. _…How come _I _haven't gotten anything from _my _boyfriend yet? _She looked down at the papery ground and tried to block out these thoughts. It made sense that Jack would be a deadbeat boyfriend when it came to Valentine's Day. Kimiko frowned, half trying to make up for herself. Jack sure was sweet and intelligent, but he just didn't know how to be romantic.

"Aaaugh!" Kimiko suddenly screamed in alarm as a large rolling robot popped out from around the corner. Speaking of Jack… She frowned again as she observed it. Master Fung had always reprimanded him against letting his robots run wild through the temple. She should probably go report this one now…

Then, just as she was about to walk away, the robot's red light eyes pinged on. "Kimiko…" its droning voice began. "Special delivery for you. Happy Valentine's Day." Then, a door opened on the Jack-bot's chest and a platform sprang out, with a heart-shaped box of chocolates sitting in the center of it.

Kimiko's face lit up in delight when she saw the unusual surprise. It was so strange, but also so sweet, that she started to laugh and grabbed the heart candy box, pressing it against her chest. How could she ever doubt him? "Oh, Jack…" she sighed to herself, and a minute later she shrieked again as the boy himself popped up out of nowhere, wrapping her in his arms.

Jack grinned and beamed to himself as Kimiko laughed out loud, in surprise and delight. "Oh, come on now," he said, beginning to chuckle with her. "You didn't really think I'd forget to give you something for Valentine's Day!"

Kimiko wiped grateful tears from her eyes and smiled back at him. "Of course not," she happily lied.

Gradually, Jack wrapped an arm around her and she leaned her head sideways, against his chest. Together, they walked down the hall, and towards the non-evil room where the festivities were about to begin.

Raimundo, too, was making his move and smoothly sailed back into the Xiaolin Temple, presenting Leandra with his homemade bouquet. The Brazilian girl was wearing her elegant white dress, accented with a lovely sheen shawl, petal-shaped airy sleeves, and a handbag. Her Kimiko-style curled hairdo had begun to flatten out, and the effect gave her a perfect, balanced wavy look. She received the flowers with gratitude and surprise, and the two kissed, blissfully before linking arms and making their way out to the garden.

(-)

Wonderland had returned again. As Jack studied his blueprints, sheets of mathematical calculations, and experimental notes, he felt that the world again was a wonderful place. There was so much hope in it, and filled with this loving feeling, he put all of his soul into the construction of this new machine.

"Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black…"

A large, goofy, smitten smile was plastered on his face, even as he connected tubes with metal wires, and installed electrical components within them. It didn't even falter as he stared into the wicked, toothy maw of the new design. That was how powerful this feeling was…this strange, yet fascinating new sensation of loving someone, and being loved in return. Yes…everything was perfect…

"With silver buttons, buttons, buttons all down her back, back, back…"

Now, if only he could get those singing Jack-bots to shut up…

"She asked her mother, mother, mother for fifty cents, cents, cents to see the elephants, elephants, elephants go jump the fence, fence, fence…"

Jack was beginning to wonder what had ever possessed him to give the Jack-bots the ability to sing. It was amazing that they were able to sing this children's hand-game song all in perfect chorus harmony, but still, after hearing "Miss Mary Mack" for the ten thousandth time, he was quickly completing his trip towards insanity. "Will you sing something else already?" he turned his head to snap at them. "You've been singing that same song for two hours! Please, anything else!"

The Jack-bot chorus froze for a moment, looked at each other and shook their heads in unison, as if changing tracks. "…Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water…"

Jack's red eyes grew wide. "Aaaaaaugh!" he screamed, running around and panicking. "No! No! Stop it! Not _that_ song! Don't you know of the horrible, abominable messages that song contains?"

The singing Jack-bots halted, looked at each other again, began trying to process the song's lyrics in their computerized minds, and all simultaneously self-destructed when they reached the conclusion.

"Well…that takes care of that…" Jack said, panting and trying to relax again. The goofy smile was long gone from his face. Then, just as he had turned back and began to resume work on his latest invention, there came a knocking against gravel. When Jack turned around again, he found Shelly standing just behind him, and her sudden appearance startled him. "Ah! Oh! Shelly…wasn't expecting you. I wasn't expecting anyone, in fact…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the female Dragon of Ice said, her forehead crinkling in concern. "I just wanted to come visit you again. I know I haven't seen you in a while, and it is Valentine's Day. I hope I'm not causing you too much trouble."

"No, no," Jack quickly replied. "I was just surprised." He shoved his pile of tubes and wires underneath a nearby desk. "So, what did you need to see me for?"

"I just wanted to see you," Shelly replied, almost angrily, putting her hands on her curving hips. "I didn't want you feeling lonely or anything."

Jack smiled, trying to hold in his chuckles. "Lonely? I can't be lonely on a day like today. I've got Kimiko…she's my girlfriend…and the other guys are around. I know Rai went off with _his _girlfriend, but I'm not lonely."

"Well, that's good," Shelly replied, and her face twitched oddly for a second, as if she had tried to smile, but it didn't work. "You're right. Today is a day for being together with the one you love. Right, Bobby?" The shapeless little ghost hovered up, settling gently in her arms and nodding in hearty agreement.

Jack stared at the ghost for a moment, and then found that he was absentmindedly staring in places he shouldn't be staring, and turned away, a blush prickling onto his cheeks.

"I…know you'd feel a little funny accepting this, but I got this for you, in case you were lonely and didn't get anything from anyone else…"

The thought crossed Jack's mind for a split second that Kimiko hadn't gotten _him_ anything, but he tried to push it away. Then, the instant Shelly pulled out her gift, all other objects, people, and thoughts vanished.

"Is that…_pudding?_" he cried. And indeed, Shelly was holding a package of nine plastic cups filled with chocolate pudding. "Wow! For me?" Jack cried, seizing the package from her hands. "Thank you so much!" And, just as she had planned, he jumped forward and squeezed her in a hug.

As the over-excited genius boy pressed against her, a smile spread over her face…and for an instant, her tiny, snakelike tongue flickered out. Everything was working perfectly. And now…cue the Dragon of Fire…

Just at that moment, Kimiko opened the door to the lab. She'd received a secret note, telling her that Jack had another Valentine's Day surprise for her, and to meet again in the lab at 2:00. It was exactly 2:00, according to her pink, electronic digital watch…and when she casually opened the door, she sure did get a surprise.

"…_Jack?_" she finally managed to speak, her blank, stunned expression gaping at him.

"_Kimiko_?" Jack cried at the sound of her voice, and shoved away from Shelly almost as quickly as he had leaped to hug her. For a silent, anxious moment, they only stared at each other, until Jack finally realized what was going on. "Uh…I…it's not what you think it is…"

"…Don't even try to explain!" Kimiko cried, finally harnessing the anger bubbling up inside her. "_I _know exactly what was going on! I saw you!"

"Kimiko, it's not…" Jack tried again, dropping the pudding package and holding out his hands in desperation.

"Stop!" Kimiko yelled back at him. "I don't want to hear any more sorry excuses! It's just as I always thought! You like Shelly more than me, don't you? I knew it; I've seen the way you look at her! And I bet you've been cheating with her down here all along! I thought you'd been spending an awful lot of time down here…"

"Now, you shouldn't…" Jack once again tried to make an argument to defend himself, but there was no stopping up the flow of Mt. Kimiko after it had erupted.

"I was right the first time! I was right all along. I should've just trusted my instincts! But if you want to go with her, then fine! Go with her! I don't want to see you anymore!"

By now, Jack had slipped to the ground while enduring her blast, and he was fighting against the tears forming on the edges of his eyelids. "Kimiko, I'm sorry…" he whimpered and couldn't help but give her sad puppy dog eyes as he lifted his head.

Kimiko remained indifferent to the scene, and only seemed angrier, crossing her arms and tapping one fancy boot-covered foot. "I'm not going to fall for your little mercy acts anymore, Jack!" she said, her voice hard. "I mean it! We're through! GOOD RIDDANCE!" She turned away and began to storm back up the stairs, muttering to herself. "I don't know why in the world I ever trusted him…"

Jack remained on the floor for a good three minutes, staring at the ground in confusion, frustration, and pain. Why…? It had all happened so fast. Just like that, she was gone. His wonderland was gone.

"…I…I'm sorry," Shelly finally spoke up, stepping up next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't think…"

"Don't touch me!" Jack snapped, frustratingly slapping her hand from his shoulder. He got to his feet and rubbed the tears off his cheeks.

Shelly stepped back and looked shocked, holding her hand, with her mouth dropping open.

At last, Jack took a deep breath and looked back at her. "It's okay. It wasn't all your fault. Just…please leave now. Sometimes, I _need_ to be alone…"

Shelly nodded and scampered up the staircase back to her cubicle. In his worried, regretful state, Jack failed to notice the uncontrollable giggling she was uttering as she ascended the stairs.

He sat down at his desk and put his head in his hand. He tried his best to entertain himself and not think about the recent events, but it was impossible. The robots had no life, the computer seemed boring and monotonous, the pile of wires and tubes was nothing but a pile of wires and tubes, and even the chocolate pudding tasted sour.

(-)

This was a new, hard, cold Chinese house…one that wasn't so hard and cold once the inner workings were examined. Jack cringed as he endured the tapping of his metal-lined boots against the stone floor. He'd come a long way already without being detected, and now had to hope that his footsteps wouldn't give him away. Regretfully, he realized that he probably should have taken the Shroud of Shadows to use on the way, but that would've required a trip to the Shen-Gong-Wu vault, which wouldn't have looked too good right now. Fortunately, at least this wing of the temple had very little traffic, and he only had to dodge a few startled-looking old monks before reaching his destination.

Hesitantly, Jack peered through the stone, decorated doorway, and glanced quickly around. "…Mom?" he asked, wondering where his legendary mother had disappeared to. Naturally, the rooms of the temple leaders were larger and more accommodating, and Marylyn's was filled with sheen, multicolored draperies. Somewhere in one corner, the glint of jewelry, watches, and clocks peeked through the airy fibers.

Marylyn pushed some of the drapes away and appeared just in front of the doorway, looking puzzled. "Oh! Jack! It's great of you to come visit me! Come on in! Take a seat!"

Jack only frowned at her cheerful greeting, regretting that he was going to have to disappoint her, but grateful that she hadn't used any baby, motherly names.

Marylyn led her depressed son to the central portion of her room, sat down on one of the cushions arranged in a circle there, and motioned for him to take a seat on the purple one right next to her.

Jack slumped down on the cushion, crossed his legs, and rested his elbows on his knees, so he could rest his chin between his fists.

Marylyn smiled, warmly and turned towards him, her legs folded under her, comfortably. "I've been waiting for you to come for a while, but I didn't want to force the issue. Now we can spend some quality mother-son time together! I'm so happy you wanted to get to know your mother better!" She leaned over and wrapped Jack's head in her arms, lovingly.

His dull, sunken eyes only continued to stare down at the ground. "Uh…Mom…?" he slowly spoke up, reluctant to crush her spirits and tell her the truth. "…I'm sorry, but that's not what I came here for."

Marylyn's smile slowly diminished. "Oh…" she realized, gently releasing his head. "Well, then…what _did _you come to see me for? I should be grateful that you at least thought about me for _something_, right?"

Jack sighed and stared at the floor again. He picked at the tassels on his cushion, absentmindedly, once again trying to distract himself with some activity.

Marylyn moved a little closer in concern after several seconds had passed with no word. Even though she hadn't been around Jack very long and didn't know him too well, she'd seen enough to know that if he didn't talk, something was definitely wrong. Marylyn gently slipped her arm over his shoulders and pulled him a little closer in concern. "What happened? Is something the matter?"

Jack took a deep breath and turned his face from her, not wanting to look in her eyes. "…Kimiko and I had a bit of a fight. Well, actually it was just her yelling…but she broke up with me, and I don't even understand why… Well, okay, I _do _understand why, but it was just a misunderstanding…I came to see you, because you're the only female person I can talk to now, and maybe you can help figure out what to do…"

Marylyn waited as he stumbled along, trying to explain what happened. At last, when he fell silent again, she asked, softly, yet firmly, "Okay. Now tell me _what happened_. Exactly. Don't leave anything out."

Jack sighed again and lowered his head. "Shelly came to see me in my lab. She thought I might be lonely, and came to give me a gift for Valentine's Day…I think she has a crush on me…but, I was so grateful, I got carried away and gave her a hug. Then, Kimiko walked in, saw us together, and jumped to conclusions… Now she's all mad at me, and broke up with me before I had a chance to explain…I don't know what to do."

"You want to get back together with her?" Marylyn asked, leaning back a bit and thinking. Thankfully, relationships were one of her strong suits.

"Well, of course!" Jack quickly snapped back. "She's my girlfriend! I always liked her, even before I discovered my powers… Sure, Shelly might be pretty, but I hardly even know her, and…"

Marylyn raised her eyebrows. He'd just openly admitted that he thought Shelly was pretty and not even faltered when he'd said it. Jack was silent again for about a minute, starting to pick at the cushion's edging again.

"Oh…okay…I think Shelly looks better than Kimiko…but that's just based on looks! And…sometimes I don't think Kimiko really likes me, she just goes out with me because she feels bad for me… Not that I don't like her anymore…I still do, I just…I…I don't know!" His emotions surging through him in frustration and confusion, Jack accidentally pulled the tassel off the right corner of the cushion. He stared at the fibrous strands and squished them in his fingers a moment. "Uh…sorry about your cushion…"

"Don't worry about it," Marylyn gently said, pushing his hand down to rest. "The decision is yours to make. But you must always remain true to your heart. Just look into your heart and you'll find the answer there, as clear as glass. It will always lead you to the one you are really meant to be with."

"You know…" Jack said, ironically looking very serious. "…I think you've been hanging around Master Fung too long."

Marylyn laughed, which seemed to break up the tense atmosphere and let the world begin again. "Yeah, yeah. I tend to pick up his speech patterns when he's talking to me a lot."

Jack collapsed onto the nearby cushions, from the exertion of revealing his real thoughts, and Marylyn looked down at him, smiling almost amusedly. "It's important that you follow this advice," she said. "I never listened to it, and I ended up with your father…" She paused for a moment, and reached down, ruffling his brick-red head. "But something in my heart must have been right, because you came out of it, didn't you?"

For the moment, Jack was so confused and worn out that he didn't mind Marylyn being so motherly with him. In fact, it almost made that blissful, warm feeling return. Though it was from a different source, and of a different kind, it was there again…that feeling of love…and suddenly he didn't feel like going back out to face the cold stone world. "Would you mind if I just stayed here for now?" he mumbled into the pile of cushions he'd gathered around him when he fell.

"No, not at all," Marylyn replied, withdrawing and standing back up again. "Spend the night if you want. I've got my own bed. Like I said, it would be great to spend some mother-son time together."

And a few minutes later, Jack felt so comfortable that he did fall asleep, right there on the cushions in the middle of his mother's room. His problems would just have to wait a little while to be solved.

(-)

Meanwhile, in the middle of the night, Leandra was sitting at the edge of the small pond in the temple garden. Her stroll with Raimundo had been very pleasant and relaxing, a gentle remedy for the hectic life of a circus performer. She removed her shawl from around her shoulders and dipped it pensively in the pool of water. The glistening moonlight reflected in the smooth, wavering substance of the calm water. It was a nice, cool evening…perfect for Valentine's Day…yet Rai was off somewhere else. He'd said he needed to get back to the temple for Xiaolin training. A Dragon's work was never done… Yet, Leandra still felt a bit disappointed. Here she was, alone in a far-away country with no one to talk to…

Just then, as she looked down into the water, she noticed another head's reflection flicker up beside hers. "…Huh?" Leandra asked, and looked up to see the slender, elegant, brown-haired Dragon of Ice imposter sitting at the side of the pool next to her. A little gasp escaped from her throat as she came face-to-face with her. She'd already met Kimiko and gotten to be pretty good friends with her, but so far she'd never said a word to the other female Xiaolin Dragon.

"Lonely?" Shelly asked, trying her best to look concerned. Leandra slowly nodded. "I wonder how long Rai's training is going to last. I hope he comes back soon."

A cold shudder ran down Leandra's spine when Bobby emerged from behind Shelly and hovered around her, "examining" her. That little spirit always creeped her out, because the ordinary circus girl had never seen one of these apparitions. This occult world was still getting settled as reality in her mind. She couldn't help but stare at this oddity as Bobby circled around her and evaluated her composition. Perhaps this one too…in due time…

"Well, I don't know," Shelly said, looking blankly down at the pool of water. "I just saw him a little while ago talking to Kimiko…" she took a deep breath. "I…I hate to break the news to you, but I really don't think he's just training."

Leandra looked, startled, back over at her, and quickly shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I think I know Rai well enough by now, and he wouldn't do things like that. He's just not that kind of guy."

"Really?" Shelly said, skeptically, moving a little closer to her. "Once again, I really wish I didn't have to tell you this, but I can't just keep it a secret from you either. …Rai hasn't been sitting around here while you weren't here. We had a party here, when Clay first won his Element Orb…they're magical, transforming orbs that hold our powers, by the way. Anyway, a slow song came on, and Rai came up to me and practically begged me to dance with him. Of course, I refused at first, but with the look he was giving me, I just couldn't leave him. I'm sorry, I didn't know about you back then…"

"It's okay," Leandra said, leaning interestedly towards her. "I just can't believe that…Rai…? Why would he…? I don't believe he…!"

"And that's not all," Shelly continued, in a desperate, disappointed tone. "You should have seen the way he was looking at Marylyn. Yeah, Marylyn Orre! She's Jack's _mother_! He was ogling at her during every training session! And now he's in there with Kimiko… I feel really bad for you, Leandra. That's why I came to tell you about it."

By now, the brown-haired Brazilian girl was beginning to tighten up with anger. Her disposition was normally calm and collected, but even she couldn't remain perfectly indifferent when she heard Rai's offenses. "Why that little…" She took a deep breath and finally rose from her perch beside the pool. "You just wait here. I'm going to give that little two-timer a piece of my mind."

As Leandra began to storm off back towards the Xiaolin Temple, Shelly shifted her body to the opposite side, and her cruel, sinister, snakelike grin returned for a second.

Only a few minutes later, Rai was sulking back towards his cubicle to bury himself in his sheets. It was bad enough that he'd had to deal with Kimiko, who was complaining to him about Jack's faithlessness, but then Leandra had suddenly appeared, accusing him of the same. In her restless, agitated state, Kimiko had quickly agreed and snapped on him as well. There was no way to calm two raging girls who felt they had been betrayed, and the whole thing ended in sorrow when Leandra declared that she was breaking up with him, and that she couldn't wait to leave tomorrow afternoon, when her plane returned.

Rai stared up at the ceiling, and then punched his pillow in frustration. It wasn't fair! He'd been together with Leandra for almost a year now, since that little break he'd had from the temple… He felt he'd liked her more than anyone else he'd ever known…a few straying incidents shouldn't destroy all of that. _Hey, married couples fight all the time,_ he told himself, trying to get some kind of comfort out of it. _Why not dating couples? …But I really don't understand. Why now? Everything had been going so well. We had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I tried to give her everything she wanted… Why did Shelly suddenly have to tell her those things? …I bet she's just jealous because _she _doesn't have a boyfriend. …Yeah, that was it; she was jealous, and it got even worse today, with all the couples…_

Then again, this was what Rai tried to force into his mind. Inside, he was beating himself up, wondering where he had gone wrong, and regretting everything that had just been brought against him. A sudden suspicion and anger for Shelly arose out of these feelings, and at last, everything was starting to become clear…

(-)

Unfortunately, the next day arrived before any of the previous love disasters of yesterday had been resolved. An unusually heavy atmosphere pressed down on everyone present at the training session. Rai glared at Shelly, Leandra glared at Rai, Kimiko glared at Jack, and Jack glared at the ground. Shelly casually spun around with her little ghost partner, seeming very content and almost pleased with herself. Their environment obviously had no effect on them.

Omi and Clay, the only two who hadn't been caught up in the tangled snare of love, looked at each other in confusion. Any minute they expected laser beams to shoot out of Rai, Kimiko, Leandra, and Jack's eyes, goring holes in each other. "What is wrong with our partners?" Omi asked, in concern. "Everyone seems angry with everyone else. This is no way for Xiaolin Warrior partners to be acting. And why is Leandra here?"

"She's probably here to keep her eye out for Rai," Clay explained. "He came to me yesterday. Seems the two of 'em had a big fight and they broke up."

"_What?_" Omi cried, obviously not understanding the phrase, "They broke up into little tiny pieces? Are they all right?"

"No, no, they _broke up_," Clay tried to explain. "Meaning they're not together anymore."

"They were stuck to each other?"

"Together as a couple. You know, in love?"

"Ohhh…" Omi realized, putting a finger to his mouth and glancing interestingly back at them. "So they're not in love with each other anymore?"

"You got it."

"Gee, I wonder what happened."

Master Fung observed his Xiaolin Warriors, and with this heavy, angry atmosphere, he knew that if allowed to train as normally, they would probably rip each other apart. "Okay," he at last announced. "Today we shall be working on perfecting the Dragon X Penté Formation." Perhaps the repetition of this team skill would relieve the tension and get them all to work together again. It wasn't so simple.

"Typhoon Boom, Wind!" Rai called, eager just to get this over with. He jumped into position and gave his icy partner a cold stare as he landed beside her.

"Tornado Strike, Water!" Omi called with his normal enthusiasm. He jumped on top of Rai's upturned hands. Instantly, as the blue sheen outlined his body, his Xiaolin Temple robes morphed into the little princely blue Element Orb outfit.

"Judallet Flip, Fire!" Kimiko yelled, with a bit more force than usual, and she landed with a hard thump on top of Omi's head, driving Rai further into the ground. Her robes were also replaced with the shiny, red female version of the uniform.

"Ow!" Rai cried from the ground. "You did that on purpose!"

"Seismic Kick, Earth!" Clay added, appearing, peacefully on the left side again. His green Element Orb costume appeared on him as well.

"Explosion Crash, Metal," Jack said in a rather bored tone, and stepped up on the right.

"Dragon X Penté Formation!" they said, their voices distinctly in different tones and pitches.

Leandra sat back near the edge of the room and raised an eyebrow at her squished former boyfriend as he struggled under vengeful Kimiko. "Heh. He deserved it."

"Ice!" Shelly called, and performed her glittering iceberg attack, even though she couldn't join in the joined formation. She probably just wanted to show off her power as if to say, "See, I'm a Xiaolin Dragon too!" and the general reaction among the arguing monks was to roll their eyes.

After that, since the Xiaolin Warriors' thoughts and hearts weren't as one, the Dragon X Penté Formation just fell to bits. Kimiko landed safely back on the wooden floor and whipped out the Star Hanabi from who-knows-where. "Hey, I've got an idea," she proposed. "Clay and I haven't got a chance to try out our new attacks yet… Why don't we test them out now?"

Master Fung raised an eyebrow. In this state, the furious Japanese girl would probably tear Jack and Rai to shreds…but, still, they both needed practice with their full-power attacks, and maybe this would teach her a lesson in the process. He nodded, regretfully.

"Okay!" Kimiko eagerly called. "Judallet Dragon Flip! Fire!" the same, powered-up version of her Apprentice attack sprang from thin air. "Star Hanabi, Fire!" she added, throwing out the enflamed star. "…Ultimate Inferno!" she yelled, and a wall of fire began growing behind her.

"Seismic Dragon Kick! Earth!" Clay began next, stomping the ground with a greater force than usual. "Fist of Tebigong, Earth!" he added, slamming the steel fist into the fissure as well. "…Ultimate Earthquake!" he finally finished, and the world around them began to shake and rattle.

"Me too, me too!" Omi called, not wanting to be left out. "Tornado Dragon Strike! Water! Orb of Tornami, Water! Ultimate Tsunami!"

Master Fung jumped back and tried to hide behind the temple altar. Jack ran towards the door and formed the Silver Shield, dragging Rai in with him and hugging him to his chest. Shelly and Leandra ran underneath and into the shield for protection. It was a rare moment when people were actually running _to_ him instead of _away_ from him. Eventually, even Master Fung, Marylyn, and Dojo all had to duck back under the shield to avoid the surging water, raging walls of fire, and rumbling, shuddering earth tremors.

"Cease!" Master Fung forcefully yelled, at last stepping out and holding out his arms in an authoritative, commanding manner.

Jack's shield popped out of existence, Rai pulled away from him, and they all shot warning looks at each other. Shelly smiled. Rai and Jack glared at her. Leandra glared at them.

"You must not let your eagerness to win or your internal anger get away with your Element Orb attacks," Master Fung reprimanded the three upgraded warriors.

Marylyn broke up Rai, Jack, and Leandra, giving her son a secret glance of understanding.

Kimiko, in her flaming rage, continued to fly towards them, ignoring Master Fung's warning. Her flaming, slicing Star Hanabi was hurtling through the air, headed straight for Rai and Jack's chests!

The slacker twins gave each other a knowing look of friendship. "I think it's time I tried this with somebody else," Rai decided. "You ready, Jackie?"

"I was born ready," Jack replied. "…And don't call me Jackie."

"Typhoon…" Rai began, creating a jet stream of air, half the force of his usual Apprentice attack.

"…Crash!" Jack finished, creating a smooth, metal block surface. The air rushed over the surface and slammed forward, into a blast of energy.

"…Aerodynamics!" Their combined attack repelled and extinguished Kimiko's full power attack. The black-haired Japanese girl fell back to the ground and the fire slowly blinked back out. Rai and Jack high-fived each other, but froze the instant they got a look at the scene in front of them.

Master Fung stepped up next to the shaking, sizzling girl and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Kimiko…" he began, in a strong, yet comforting tone. "You must not let your anger rule you. With these new powers within your body, uncontrollable rage could increase the power and increased power could lead to illusionary immortality and superiority, and ultimately, to evil."

Rai and Jack glanced at each other for a moment. Kimiko was…becoming evil? Well…she _was _the only one of them that hadn't been over to the dark side at least once.

For a moment, an expression like a sneer passed over her face. "I can't believe you're defending those…those _evil_ guys! You know how much Rai and Jack slack off…I really don't think they're suitable to be Xiaolin Warriors." Master Fung opened his mouth to respond, but as soon as he did, a familiar cry of pain shot through the air of the main training hall.

"Ah! Oooh…Ow! Ow! Owieee! A new Shen-Gong-Wu has revealed itself! This one's a doozy!" Dojo tensed his long scaly body from around Marylyn's shoulders, and she quickly reached up to yank him from her neck before he strangled her.

Master Fung read Dojo'd wavelengths of magical sense, and unrolled the Shen-Gong-Wu scroll. "The Biao Lu Basin," he read, and the Xiaolin Warriors crowded around him to get a look at it. The circular portal in the middle of the pages showed a large, golden basin with latch handles on the side. "Biao Lu Basin" was written in dark brush strokes below it. "Its ability is to reveal the true nature and the secret roots of a person or entity's soul…it's quite useful against those who are able to morph into different forms."

On cue with his explanation, one figure placed the Biao Lu Basin above a shadowed lizard. A shower of water fell down on the lizard figure, and when it emerged, it was a man figure like the other one.

"C'mon!" Omi urged, trying to snap Kimiko out of her evil spell. "We've got to work together and get it before Bob Sanderson! I repeat, we've _got to_ work together…!"

"Ooh, look at high-and-mighty Omi telling everyone to work _together_!" Rai teased. "This is a first."

Omi shot him a look. "I am trying to reassert our fellow Xiaolin Warrior in the ways of the enlightened path; I do not appreciate your comments from the small underground nut display!"

"Peanut gallery!" Rai yelled back at him. "Comments from the peanut gallery!"

"Guys, guys, it's alright," Kimiko said, stepping up on the other side of them. "I know we have to get the Shen-Gong-Wu together…I'm not too happy about being together with _those two_, but I know I have to do it."

Meanwhile, even though nobody noticed, Shelly had stepped backwards, her face becoming unusually white. The little ghost Bobby zoomed restlessly around her head. _Oh no…with that Shen-Gong-Wu, they could reveal our true identities…before our project is complete, and I get my revenge. We must get the Biao Lu Basin before they do!_

(-)

It wasn't long before Dojo began twitching underneath the Xiaolin Warrior's bodies. The Biao Lu Basin obviously wasn't very far from the Xiaolin Temple, which, uncomfortably gave Shelly and Bob even less time to recuperate and launch a suitable attack. Shelly trembled from her position near Dojo's tail, behind everyone else. Fortunately for them, the Xiaolin Warriors were too busy arguing, or trying to keep the peace to notice that anything was wrong with her.

Leandra had insisted on coming along as well, since she said Dojo had promised her a ride on his back, and she wanted to keep an eye on Rai as well.

Kimiko peered over the edge of the bobbing dragon's side. This landscape seemed terribly familiar…and a shudder passed through her body. "Dojo…?" she skeptically asked. "Exactly where is the Biao Lu Basin?"

"In China," the magical dragon replied.

"No kidding," Rai said. "But _where _in China?"

"Uh…in the hills," Dojo said, looking down at the environment he was passing over. "I don't know! I'm just following the urge and letting it lead me wherever it will."

Jack shivered and glanced towards the horizon where the reddening sun was beginning to set. He recognized this area as the blank country he often used to fly over on his trips from his old house to the Xiaolin Temple and back again. It couldn't be…in his house! He sincerely hoped not. If his father caught him there again, he'd probably rip him to shreds. And it seemed that he'd been hoarding Shen-Gong-Wu throughout the house, so he didn't doubt that there were more, inactive ones waiting there.

At last, Dojo instinctively settled onto the hillside and the dissenting Xiaolin Warriors, plus one guest, hopped off. Kimiko was the first off, followed by Leandra and Rai (at separate times, of course). Omi came off after him, along with Clay, and then Shelly. Jack stayed on Dojo's back for a moment, craning his neck to see into the distance. He hovered up above the high coil and tried to fly high enough to see how close they were to his house without seeming suspicious.

Strangely enough, it wasn't Kimiko, Rai, or even Jack who brought up the subject of their location. "Hey!" Omi suddenly spoke up. "Do you all realize where we are? I remember this place well… It's where Kimiko and Jack fought for the Vase of Viscous Visions! It's where Jack _saved Kimiko's life_! Yes, that's right! This is also where he _captured Wuya_ and _joined the temple_!"

Kimiko glared in annoyance to her side where Omi was chattering to her. "Oh, _really_? I can't seem to remember that."

Omi fell back in his extended stride, and Rai slipped up behind him. "Ah…" he teased. "It's Omi the matchmaker! Who wants to get paired up by the world-famous relationships expert?"

Omi raised a long, thin eyebrow. "Are you using that 'sarcasm' stuff you told me about again?"

"Yes, Omi," Rai replied, patting him on the round, yellow head.

"There!" Dojo finally yelled, jumping up and pointing towards the top of a hill to the right. There was a little well right at the pinnacle.

"Wow," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "There's actually a well at the top? How come I never noticed that before?"

"That's where the Basin is!" Dojo cried, popping his head up in anticipation. "At the bottom of the well. I remember putting it there now! Of course, it looked a bit different. Wells were an incredible piece of modern technology then."

Kimiko, Rai, and Clay immediately broke into a run towards the hill. Omi rushed close after them, and Jack sped up his helicopter blades so he could catch up, and hover right next to him.

"Hey…thanks for trying," he called over to him. "I was going to say something about it, but…"

"Well, you know what they say…" Omi replied. "If you do not succeed at the premier attempt, you must try it again, try it again!"

Jack smiled amusedly and floated back away. Well, he didn't have his girlfriend anymore, but at least he still had interesting friends like Omi and Rai.

Leandra rushed after them, following the Brazilian traitor closely with her eyes.

Shelly took that opportunity to lag back, and then slowly slip behind a tree to hide. Bob had been gone for at least thirty minutes now, her fangs, tongue, and eyes should definitely be back. Shelly brushed back her long, brown hair, and her hand bumped into a long, erect elfish ear. Oh, yeah, there was that too… All Heylin witches received long ears like these ones when they passed a certain magical level. Since Shésui was one of the most powerful in the institution, of course she also had this feature. She leaned her back against the scratching back of the tree and prayed that Bob could win this Biao Lu Basin, for as much as she hated to admit it, the whole plan, and perhaps her own existence depended upon his victory.

Just as if they had materialized from her thoughts, the stampede of motorcycles roared into view, headed straight for the little wishing well on top of the hill. Shésui slowly peeked out from behind the tree to see the action that followed. She had to see just what this boy was planning on doing now…and if he would win the Biao Lu Basin. Coincidentally, the gangster boys on motorcycles reached the well at the exact same time as Kimiko, Rai, Clay, Omi, Leandra, and Jack (in that order).

"Oh, look," Kimiko spoke up, since she was now taking her bad mood out on everyone. "It's the CF…_PU_!"

"Wow," Bob replied, taking on a forceful, sarcastic tone. "Now _that's _a clever put-down."

"Don't you dare make fun of me!" Kimiko yelled back at him. "I'm in a bad mood, and I'll blast you to the moon if you don't shut up."

Bob held out his hands and turned his head knowingly to his right-hand man, Gerald. "No, no, no. Don't worry, we're here to grab a Shen-Gong-Wu, not to have a fight with a crazy girl."

"Crazy girl?" Kimiko questioned, returning his narrow, dangerous glare. "_Crazy girl?_ You better just watch your…"

Before she could finish, both Bob and Rai jumped down into the well together to grab the Wu. When Leandra arrived, she whipped around looking for Rai, and Kimiko had to point down into the well, before she followed. Now, normally falling down a well is a bad thing, and you will usually die or hurt yourself, but Rai for one, had a HeliPack forced onto his back, and Bob had the Wu Jin Duraflex.

"Wu Jin Duraflex!" he called, and the rubber square molded into a large, pink elastic parachute. The two boys floated, at equal, peaceful gravity, towards the bottom of the well.

"Aaaugh!" a girl's high-pitched scream pierced their eardrums from above. Leandra plummeted down, and thankfully landed right on top of Bob's parachute.

"What?" the antagonizing boy cried, looking up to see what had suddenly pushed him further down. "Hey, there's a babe on my roof! C'mon, honey, keep pushing me down…"

Leandra smiled when she heard the evil CFPU's leader's sweet talk. "Gladly," she replied, shooting a resentful glance over at Rai and pushing against the Wu Jin Duraflex parachute.

Rai gritted his teeth. _Please_…he thought, _Leandra__…don't go over to the side of evil just because I made a few stupid mistakes… _He turned downwards and forced the whirling helicopters on his back to propel him towards the bottom. He wasn't sure if this was the right way, since Jack hadn't taught him how to dive-bomb yet (he didn't _want_ to learn), but he was confident that he could figure it out somehow.

The rocky base of the well was coming into view, and Rai thought he saw a golden glint among the rest of the dull, brown pit. The tension of the approaching conflict was ever present, and it felt like a very long time until Rai's large, tanned hand landed on the right side of the Biao Lu Basin. Naturally, Bob's hand landed on the left side at the exact same time.

"Raimundo, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown," the evil gang leader quickly spoke up.

Leandra gracefully hopped off the stretchy parachute as it reverted back into a simple pink square. She fixed her shawl and adjusted her long brown ponytail. This would be interesting. For once, she actually hoped that weirdo with the cornrows would win.

"Your Sword of the Storm against my Harp of Harmonies." Bob stowed the Wu Jin Duraflex back into the pocket of his baggy pants and pulled out a familiar golden harp. They'd forgotten that he still had that… "The first one to the top of the well wins. Oh, and one more thing…" Quickly and unexpectedly, Bob reached over and ripped the modified HeliPack from his arms. "…No cheating," he finished with a triumphant smile, grinning sinisterly.

"Yeah!" Leandra suddenly spoke up, waving a finger, reproachfully in his face. "You heard him! No cheating!"

Rai sighed. He knew what that guy was trying to do…take away his token Shen-Gong-Wu and get Leandra on his side. Did she really hate him that much that she'd go with this creep and become evil? He didn't think so, but if he didn't accept, Bob would automatically get the Biao Lu Basin…at least, this way, he'd have a chance to prove himself. _Similar reasons as Clay…_ he realized, but he still had to do this. "…I accept." Strangely, he didn't even seem to be worrying about the Shen-Gong-Wu. If he lost the Sword of the Storm, it didn't matter…but if he lost Leandra…

"Let's go! Xiaolin Showdown!" At these magical words, the well in which they were standing suddenly became 20 feet deeper, and stone platform slats stuck out of the walls. Leandra sat on a floating platform on another wall, observing interestingly. It would move up or down as the competitors progressed to give her a good view. "Gong Yi Ten Pai!" Bob and Rai called to begin, and immediately got to work.

Bob leaped onto the nearest platform and began to leap up to the next one with surprising swiftness and agility. Hey, the guy wasn't exactly a scrawny wimp like Jack used to be.

"Sword of the Storm, Wind!" Rai yelled, pointing the sword's tip down towards the bottom of the well. Naturally, as he expected, the force of the windstorm that erupted began to push his body upwards and he rocketed about one-third of the well's depth. Unfortunately, just then, the wind chose that moment to quit on him, and he scrambled to fall back on a nearby platform.

Bob quickly vaulted up two more platforms and smirked at the opportunity handed him. "Harp of Harmonies!" he called. His fingers suddenly had minds of their own, and mechanically plucked out a long, soothing melody. Rose-colored magical energy clouds shaped like musical notes floated out of the strings and puffed onto Rai's face.

The soft lullaby, as well as the soothing fragrance of the note-clouds was beginning to make Rai's eyes droop as he plummeted back towards the bottom of the well. He was so drowsy that he forgot to look for a ledge to land on. At last reacting to the Shen-Gong-Wu's ability, his eyes completely closed and he went crashing back down to the bottom of the well.

Bob snickered lightly to himself. Hopefully, the Harp's effects would last long enough for him to climb to the top. If not, then he could always use the Harp again and put him back to sleep, right? That Sword, even when used at its full, combined power, could only take him one-third of the way up the well. Bob gritted his teeth and jumped as quickly as he could towards the top. Twice he tripped and was almost flung backwards to the bottom, but somehow managed to regain his balance. The image of Shésui's worried, desperate face was ever present, burned into the back of his brain. He had to win this showdown…so they wouldn't be revealed, and the banned witch apprentice could get her revenge on Wuya. It could all depend on him now…

Leandra laughed down at the sleeping Rai, as her floating platform shot up to follow Bob's progress. Hah. How pathetic. He'd been defeated by a single magical Shen-Gong-Wu attack. Rai really was weak, and now she was seeing him for how weak he really was. _I can't wait to go back to Brazil…_she thought. _But…even though Rai's a big jerk…it was nice, before I knew about what he'd done. Oh, well. Hasta la vista, cheater. _

Meanwhile, Rai lied, languidly on the rocky bottom of the well. The Sword of the Storm lied at his side, just below his hand, as he gently snored, fast asleep. He shifted a little in his sleep. He was having a terrible nightmare…

He was sitting in the metal bleacher seats of his circus tent's audience section. Normally, he would wonder why he was suddenly in the audience and not in the show at all, but in a dream, no one ever questions anything. The show began, and he saw all the other acts, without actually seeing them. He knew he had seen them, but he didn't really know what he saw. They weren't what were important in this dream. Suddenly, a man with dark brown hair and his similar wife appeared in the ring in their sparkling blue-and-white uniforms.

"Mom? Dad?" Rai felt himself say within the foggy reality of his dream. His parents began to flip around on the trapeze, and when they were finished, his older brother, Tony jumped out and joined in their tumbling routine. Maria jumped out next, full of energy, as always.

Then, strangely enough, Leandra performed a continuous cartwheel onstage. This was extremely unusual, since she was never really good at gymnastics. In fact, Leandra had originally wanted to be an acrobat in the circus, just like Rai and the other Pedrosas, but since she could never do the routines right, she'd become a bird handler instead, because she also loved animals.

Well, at least this portion of the dreamy show was very detailed. Rai sat up straighter on his metal bench to watch his former girlfriend flipping around with Maria and Tony, as if she'd been doing this for years. He clapped like a madman when their routine was finished. Who knew Leandra was capable of doing _that_? It was then that he noticed that he was the only one in the audience.

Another boy stood up near the back of the audience. He was wearing a blue-and-white, sparkling uniform just like the Pedrosas, but with a cape. He grabbed a rope to swing down into the ring. Rai stared as he flashed right by his face, and glared, despicably at his bunches of dark bluish-black hair. _Bob Sanderson…_ Bob swept, heroically down into the ring, caught Leandra in his arms and landed in the center. The former bird-handler girl laughed and smiled in his arms. She threw her arms around his neck, and suddenly they kissed, lips together, lovingly.

Rai burned with anger. How dare he…? _He'd _never even gotten to do that with Leandra yet, though he'd wanted to a few times before. _Well…_he realized. _I guess I know how she felt now. Maybe she's purposely trying to get with Bob to make me jealous, angry, and betrayed…like how she must've felt when she found out about what I'd done._

Slowly, the scene around him faded away into blackness. The cold bench underneath him dissolved into the blackness and nonexistence that consumed the rest of the dream. He was alone now…and he didn't like it.

"L…Leandra?" he slowly, uselessly asked. "Where are you? I'm sorry…I'll never do it again… Please, just come back…" Rai closed his eyes in his mind.

_Am I really evil?_ He asked himself. _I mean, I know I betrayed the Xiaolin Temple before…but I was just angry and frustrated, feeling like I was worthless. I know I kind of cheated with Leandra…but it's not like I asked anyone else out. I only danced with Shelly once. And yeah, okay, I think Marylyn is hot, but hey, who doesn't?_

He stumbled forth in the darkness, trying to find a way out of this illusionary room. It was useless. It was still all useless… _Maybe I'm evil, and I just don't know it. I mean, look at what I've done now…Leandra might go away to the side of evil because of my own stupidity…what was I thinking?_

Slowly, the blackness around him began to flicker, and it showed him different visions. He and Leandra had been together ever since they were children…there he was, seven years old, teasing the little girl with the brown pigtail. Then, again, playing video games together…playfully swinging on the dormant trapeze bars…celebrating after their first show together, age ten… Before he realized it, tears were sprinkling across his imaginary cheeks. _Leandra__…_ his thoughts reverberated around him, since this was his mind, creating all this. _…please just forgive me. I don't want a few mistakes I made to destroy all of this. I want to have you as my friend, my partner…I _need _you…_

Something smooth bumped against his palms, and when he looked down, he saw a round, glass globe in his hands. Puffy, nebulous substances swirled around inside…like the clouds of a clear blue sky…being pushed around by the wind. It looked so peaceful and serene inside that globe. Rai wished that he was in there right now, enjoying the beautiful scenery with the girl of his dreams…

The white substance passed through the glass as if it weren't even there. Now, it was passing into his body. And, unknown to his unconscious mind, the exact same events were taking place in the real world. The swirling cloud cover blanketed his body, forcing it into an upright position as it rushed around, creating a cloud cocoon. Rai didn't feel a thing, still numb to the world around him, and the clouds gathered in denser sections around him. They dissolved his normal clothes away and solidified on his body, forming a light, airy suit. It fit like a second skin…or as if it weren't even there.

At last, Rai's green eyes shined and popped open, as the clouds dispersed back into the atmosphere. He stood, fully aware again, in a dramatic pose with one leg forward, and the Sword of the Storm in his right hand. He was now wearing a white uniform exactly similar to Omi and Clay's Element Orb outfits, with a tunic, boots, a cape, and a pin on his chest with his wind symbol. However, his mind was so focused on the one task that he had to perform that he didn't even notice the change.

By now, Bob was very close to the top. In fact, he only had about five platforms to jump before he emerged from the well's dark, dank prison.

"Typhoon Dragon Boom! Wind!" Rai instinctively cried. Somehow, his new focused state had opened up his mind to the phrases Marylyn had taught him during the full power training session. "Sword of the Storm, Wind!" Pointing the sword downwards, he began to build a huge funnel of gust below him. Just one more piece of the puzzle now… "…Ultimate Tornado!" Rai yelled, forcefully throwing the sword's funnel down towards the ground. His body rocketed up this time with a much greater force than it had the first time, propelled by a giant twister. On his way up, he hovered for a moment above Leandra's platform, wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her up with him towards the opening looming closer and closer above them.

"Augh!" Leandra cried, struggling against the pressing force of his arm. "Let me go! I hate you now! You're just a big jerk, that…"

"No," Rai definitely stated, in a voice that was hardened, yet wavering with the additions of his personal feelings. "I'm not going to let go this time. I'm never letting go of you…I want…I _need_ you to stay with me." Another tear flew from his eyelid.

Even though the wind was whipping around her and she repeatedly had to fling her hair back out of her face, Leandra could clearly see his tragic tears. Slowly, a concerned, sympathetic expression pressed onto her forehead and her mouth fell open. "Rai…" Maybe…he really did care for her…and he really _was_ sorry for the acts of betrayal that he had performed in her absence.

Rai shot upwards in his tornado spiral, and in just two minutes he was passing Bob, who had just reached the second platform.

The gangster boy's brown eyes grew wide. "Harp of Harmonies!" he called in desperation, holding out the instrument and trying to put the Brazilian back to sleep, but it was too late for that now.

Before he could try anything else, Rai burst from the opening, holding Leandra close and dear to his chest. In a flash, the well shortened itself back into reality again. Rai and Leandra landed back on the soft green grass just outside the well where the other Xiaolin Warriors were waiting. Bob, however, was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was too upset and embarrassed after his defeat that he didn't wasn't to stick around.

Clay and Omi gaped at Rai's appearance. "Raimundo!" Omi cried, rushing to his side. "You found your Element Orb! Are you okay? How do you feel? Are you still my friend?"

"Hey, chill Omi," Rai said, flashing one of his slick, yet handsome grins over at him. "I'm not evil or anything. See? I even won the Showdown!" He pulled out a large golden basin, and the Harp of Harmonies also appeared near the edge of its interior. He reached up and rubbed the tears from his cheeks as his outfit faded back out and his former sneakers, cargo pants and green-sleeved tee-shirt reappeared underneath. The white, puffy Element Orb popped back into existence in his hands.

"Rai…" Leandra at last spoke up. She fixed her hair and looked, nervously back over at him. "I'm really sorry. I realize now that I kind of overreacted to what Shelly told me. I was already starting to get upset with you for taking such a long time to come back, and then her telling me that kind of stuff just set me off…" She shrugged her shoulders back a bit. "But now that I think about it, I really don't want to be without you forever as well…I don't want our relationship to end just because of this one little fight."

"That's…exactly how I feel…" Rai told her. "I'm sorry, Leandra, I won't ever do that again."

"I know," Leandra quickly replied. She leaped over and wrapped him in a hug, giving him a small kiss on the cheek.

Rai smiled again and beamed, hugging her back. It looked like this would work out after all. None of them would turn evil, and they could still love each other…

"Hey, where is Shelly anyway?" Leandra asked, looking up from her newly reinstated boyfriend for a moment.

"I don't know," Rai said, glancing around for any sign of the Dragon of Ice. "She always seems to disappear whenever there's a showdown. Maybe she just doesn't like conflict." He looked down at the relieved little monk next to him, then over at the casually grateful Clay. Finally, he observed Kimiko in the distance, crossing her arms and looking away from them. There was still someone missing. "Hey…" he asked, again being the only one to notice the absence of one of their members. "…Where's Jack?"

(-)

The familiar landscape spread in from him. For a moment, Jack shivered, looking into one of the large, glass windows under the red awnings, wondering if his father or one of the maids or groundskeepers was looking back at him. Somehow, he knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from this place, as much as he never wanted to see it again. His laser-inserted lines still remained faded against the cobblestone pathway and the perfectly cut lawn. Several construction machines and tools sat around on the lawn, out-of-place in the streamlined garden. He'd knocked down the blockade wall Jack had put up to try to keep the Xiaolin Warriors out.

For a moment, he remembered his old robots and longed to be back in his dark basement, creating these companions. They were his constant companions…robots would never be angry at you over things that really didn't happen. They wouldn't love you one moment and hate you the next. That was one of many reasons that Jack had always preferred the company of homemade robots to that of real people. But…he could never receive that warm feeling of love from a relationship with a robot.

Jack took a deep breath and slowly turned away from the dreadful mansion. He'd have to get away soon because if he was spotted, he'd be in terrible trouble… Just then, as he walked away from his old world yet again, he passed under a very familiar old tree.

"Hey…" he whispered. "I remember this tree…"

The tree just at the edge of the property's perimeter looked like any other tree in China…except an odd yin-yang symbol was carved into its trunk. No one knew who had carved it, how it got there, or why it was even there at all, but Jack vaguely remembered something happening here at this tree in the past. Oh…that was right. His father had forbid him to ever come near it again. Well…he didn't have to listen to him anymore.

Jack stepped up and placed his hand in the middle of the yin-yang. An odd, dull electric feeling buzzed under his palm for a moment. His eyes widened. Something had happened here…and he had a feeling that it had a lot more to it than a simple boundary establishment.

"…Ow!" Suddenly, something slammed into the top of Jack's head. "Augh," he grumbled. "Now what fell on me?" When he looked down, his eyes widened even further.

A hard, glass globe sat on the ground, rolling slightly near the tree's roots. He reached down to pick it up and stare into its center. Jack's heart raced as he looked into the blended substance making up the silver, sparkling sheen inside. From his experiences watching the others in their showdowns, he recognized this object as one of the Element Orbs…and from the looks of its contents, it was probably his! Was he really ready to receive his yet?

He wondered what he was supposed to do. _The contents are supposed to go inside me somehow…permeate through my skin and into my soul or something…but nothing's happening… _Jack stared into the metallic substance inside and concentrated, trying to will it into his body. It wasn't working. For a second, he wished Master Fung were there to tell him to focus his chi, or something to that effect. Still nothing. _Is it because I didn't find it while in a Showdown? _he wondered. _Maybe it'll only work because it had to be first activated in a Xiaolin Showdown, where the levels of magic are there to help affect our magical properties…or something like that. C'mon…come on in…focus…open yourself to the magic…let the magic flow in…just let the magic…_

"Ouch!" Jack cried out as something else slammed into the back of his head. "Jeez, will you stop dropping things on me?" he yelled at the tree. However, he immediately closed his mouth when he looked down at the object.

It was a hard, solid glass globe. Inside was the glittering, metallic sheen of a piece of metal. Jack reached down and lifted this orb from the grass as well. He looked at the one in his right hand…then at the one in his left hand. They looked exactly alike.

"This looks like an Element Orb…and it has the shine of metal inside it…but so does this one. It looks like it could by my Element Orb…but so does this one." He stared in confusion and panic, moving his head back and forth between the orbs. "But…how is this possible? I have…_two _Element Orbs?"


	7. A Boy and his Evil Witch Spirit

Here it is! The Jack chapter/turning point! Some things in this chapter will be explained in the next chapter. So don't go crazy wondering. I don't think there's anything wrong… Finally, Wuya gets a chapter that she'll actually like. Aside from Shésui's presence, that is. Yeah…I really don't make her evil and powerful enough…and she's kind of going to get shoved to the side again, because of her rivalry with Shésui and later, their struggle to impress a certain person. Oh, well. I think the part at the end is a bit awkward. Hope you enjoy it anyway.

Sorry this took so long. I have tons of summer work (three books, one short story, two plays, and a verb test), plus I'm on a reading kick lately, and I've been inspired to try an original(ish) story. Excuses, I know, but I had to at least finish Chapter 8 before posting this chapter to ensure that I _will _have a chapter 8 for you. As horrible as it must have been having a hiatus at the end of the last chapter, it would've been much worse to leave you with this chapter's ending…

Special thanks to TamerTerra, Xroce, Jadebell (yay, I don't have to worry about spoiler marking anymore!), and especially Correll. That was really your first review? It didn't seem like it. And thank you so much! It's people like you that make me glad I didn't disable my anonymous reviewing a year ago when I got flamed by an anonymous reviewer. I really don't think I'm _that_ good, but hey, I won't argue with compliments. (winks). And thanks, everyone else who reviewed too!

Chapter 8's first draft is done, so I should probably get it up within a week, but there might be a longer break between 8 and 9, because I haven't started 9 yet…I'm trying, so be patient.

(-)

Chapter 7: A Boy and his Evil Witch Spirit

Key tactic #4- Hesitant, lavish appeal is often the most cautious stimulation, as from examples and suggestions.

(-)

"I don't get it," Rai was saying as he sat cross-legged on the floor, his Element Orb in his lap. He cocked his circular, darkened face, half in questioning and half in resentment. "I just got my Element Orb. Normally it takes a week or two until someone finds another one…but Jack found his immediately after me. …And why the heck does he have _two?_"

"Tsk, tsk," Jack turned to scold him from his position in his corner of the training room. "Control your jealousy, Raimundo. I can't help it if I'm special."

"_I'm not jealous_!" Rai yelled, his face flaming in anger. "Besides…you've got no girlfriend! I'd rather have a girlfriend than a second Element Orb."

Obviously, Jack wasn't listening to him anymore, because if he were, he wouldn't have been in such a good mood. The excited Dragon of Metal was juggling his two Element Orbs, happily showing off and staring into their centers. "Hey…" he finally asked, after his Element Orb bliss wore off. "…does this mean that I'd have double the normal amount of powers?"

"Augh!" a little voice suddenly cried, and Omi came rushing into the room. He jumped up and snatched the Element Orbs from Jack's fluctuating hands. "Don't do that!" Omi reproached him, holding the orbs, protectively against his small body. "If you drop them, they could break and spill your powers all over the place. Then, you'll never receive them!"

"Geez, sorry," Jack said, holding out his hands, expecting Omi to hand them back. "I'll be more careful with them from now on. …Can I have them back now?"

Omi sighed and placed the glass orbs back in his large hands. "Okay, but no more juggling. And no bowling, basketball, or anything else!"

"Do you know why there are two of them?" Jack asked, tucking the orbs against his sides. "Since you obviously know _everything _about the Element Orbs…"

Omi frowned. "Actually, I have no idea. Maybe one of them is a fake." He stared, intensely at the two globes, and tried to compare their miniscule differences. "…But I can't tell. They look exactly the same."

At that time, Kimiko, Clay, and Shelly also entered the large, red-carpeted training/meeting hall, since today's session was about to begin in a few minutes. Leandra had already gone home last night, along with Maria, and Rai had a hard time pulling away from her. Now, they promised each other that they'd be inseparable…no matter the distance.

It had been an emotional, loving moment, interrupted only by the loud mouth of Jack Spicer, running up with two Element Orbs in his arms. Ever since then, the attention had been focused on this strange phenomenon, and Rai was feeling slightly underappreciated. There were no big parties and congratulations for him last night, because everyone was still pondering over the mystery of Jack's Orbs…and they still were.

Clay wandered over to where Omi and Jack were standing, while Shelly remained in the doorway, and Kimiko sat beside Raimundo. She crossed her arms and glared at her ex-boyfriend with contempt. "What do you say we creep up behind Jack and strangle him?" she suggested to Rai. "Or we could combine out powers and blast him. It's 'Typhoon Flip, Smokeout'. Looked it up on a secret list of Xiaolin Dragon techniques." Rai laughed, as if she were only joking, but the look on her face was certainly serious about it.

From her perch at the door casing, Shelly smirked to herself. Bobby floated up and nuzzled his pointed nose against her cheek. She quickly waved him away, and he reluctantly complied. As good as things were going now, the Warriors still had the Biao Lu Basin, and they had to work quick before they got the idea to use it on them…and before Jack gained his powers. _Actually, _she thought, _if anyone was to figure out our secret, it would probably be that old, magic-sensitive…_

Suddenly, she felt as something bumped into her back. Quickly whipping around, she noticed the tall, knowledgeable master standing right behind. "…Master Fung!" she cried, caught off guard. "Oh! So sorry to be in your way…"

"No problem, Shelly," Master Fung answered, his voice steady as always. "As long as you are ready for today's session." He walked on, until he reached the congregation of Xiaolin Warriors in the center of the room.

_Phew, _Shelly thought, although she kept her body in the same, steadfast façade. _He doesn't suspect anything. At least not yet anyway. Tomorrow I have to launch the final pieces of the plan. It should have progressed far enough by now…_

"What's this all about?" Master Fung asked, approaching Omi, Clay and Jack's huddle. It had been so late by the time they'd gotten back last night, that no one got to tell him about the day's activities. He'd already known about Rai's find when they stored and archived the Biao Lu Basin, but hadn't found out about Jack's predicament.

"Look!" the excited, proud Dragon of Metal cried, waving the orbs in front of his face. "I've got _two_ Element Orbs! It's so cool! They just fell out of a tree onto my head! …I don't know why I haven't gotten my powers yet, though…"

"I think it's because one of them is fake, and maybe once we eliminate the fake one, he can receive his powers," Omi theorized. "But if we eliminate the wrong one… Master Fung, do you suppose you can tell which is the _real_ Metal Orb?"

Master Fung only blinked, interestingly at them, before lifting them from Jack's hands and gazing into their compositions. He continued to examine them, and everyone (except maybe Kimiko) held their breath in anticipation. At last, after two whole minutes of carefully studying the Orbs, Master Fung looked up to give the verdict. "…They both are," he ominously announced, and carefully handed them back to Jack.

"Really? That's awesome!" Jack cried, holding the two Orbs in front of his chest. Rai, who had made his way over, since he was interested in finding out why as well, began chuckling behind his back. Jack started to turn around to yell "What's so funny" at him, but then realized exactly what he was doing with those Orbs, and shoved them behind his back, blushing like a tomato.

"_Neither_ of them are fake?" Omi questioned, incredulously. "But how is that possible? There is only one Dragon of Metal. How come there are two Element Orbs?"

Master Fung simply moved his long head from side to side. "There are some things that even the ancient writings cannot tell us. In fact, all that we found on the Element Orbs said simply to stay away from them and only use them in an emergency situation, such as against Wuya or her opponent, Shésui. No Xiaolin Dragon has ever received his or her full powers before, and Dragons of Metal are always a bit…different."

"Hey!" Jack objected, from his position among Omi, Clay, and Rai. "Are you calling me weird?"

"It's a fact," Master Fung attempted to explain. "The Metal powers are separate from the original four elements. They work in different ways, and were so unpredictable, that they had to be restricted to the birth line of one family. The temple has been in contact with the Orre family for centuries, but we cannot identify all the properties of the Dragon of Metal powers." He paused for a moment, to stare down at the Orbs. "All I know is that this is not a good thing. This is just a theory, but perhaps each of the essences inside are different types of your full Metal powers. It will take an extensive challenge to determine which type you receive."

Jack gulped. "Ch-challenge? …Can't I just have both?"

Master Fung shook his head, solemnly again. "This is serious business, and I expect you to take it seriously as well. The future of the world could depend on which type of power you receive…"

"Pssssht," Kimiko loudly blew into the air to get their attention, "Jack take it seriously? Yeah, sure. Make sure to get a memento photograph when _that_ happens."

Rai opened his mouth to relate a former experience when Jack _had _taken everything he said seriously and a bit _too_ seriously at that, but closed his mouth, not wanting to start an argument. "She's in a bad mood again," Rai spoke up instead, turning back to the inside. "Just ignore her…" He stopped short, noticing that Jack was already ignoring her, returning to flinging his Orbs around in a circle and marveling at them.

"No!" Omi yelled, running forwards to grab them back. "What did I tell you about juggling?"

For someone who would determine the fate of the world, Jack sure didn't seem too concerned about it. Rai sighed and turned away again, and Master Fung and Clay seemed to share his sentiment. That was it. They were doomed.

(-)

Late that night, a peaceful tension hung over the temple that seemed to linger most along the Xiaolin Warrior's sleeping hallway. It was so silent and dark…perhaps too silent. Omi was balancing upside-down as he usually did, while Kimiko was sleeping soundly and Clay was muttering farm orders in his sleep. Rai stumbled out of bed, heading towards the pantry to search for a midnight snack. It didn't matter what they might have thought about him sneaking out; they should have learned to trust him by now. Unfortunately, he was so tired and bleary-eyed that he didn't even notice that he was headed in the wrong direction.

Rai stumbled again and almost fell. His round, sparkling green eyes flew completely open and he remained on alert now. _The Shen-Gong-Wu Vault_? he wondered. _Why did I come down here? I must've taken a wrong turn…_Rai began to turn around to head back towards his tiny room, but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard an odd clicking noise. There was someone…or something…in the Vault!

"Stop right there!" Rai brazenly called. "I'm warning you!" He shuffled around in his pockets and pulled out his Wind Orb. "I'm a full-fledged Xiaolin Dragon with full powers!" There came no response…just the light tapping of hardened plastic boot heels against the stone steps. "Hey! Come back here!" Rai yelled, and set off after the noise. Perhaps there was a reason he had ended up at the Vault. There was a thief in it, and he needed to get rid of it!

Rai flew down the stone steps like a simple gust of wind. He held the Wind Orb out so he could transform the minute the bandit appeared to challenge him. Shaking with excitement and adrenaline, Rai watched as a tall, black-cloaked figure slowly faded into view in front of him. The curious thing was this figure had a white skin tone, reflecting purely off the pinpoints of the night lights outside. The figure also had a head full of bright, blood-red hair…

"…_Jack?_" Rai called. "What are you doing down here?" No answer. The figure didn't look back or even slow down. Fed up, Rai jumped up and fell down on top of him, trying to pin him to the ground.

"…What?" Rai just felt himself falling and the airy apparition defused out into nothingness. "Augh!" Rai cried as he crashed against the stone Vault steps. "What the heck was _that?_ …Jack?" He glanced around again, but the shadowy goth was nowhere in sight. It was like he had just popped out of existence, or had merged with the black darkness of the air around him.

Spooked and confused, Rai just shrugged and hurried back towards his cubicle. At least none of the Shen-Gong-Wu appeared to be missing, and that was all that counted, right?

(-)

STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP. That sound could only mean one thing- and enraged Kimiko Tohomiko on a rampage towards the underground lair of a certain non-evil boy genius. Surprisingly enough, Rai, Omi, and Clay were with her, following closely behind, half to witness the interrogation, and half to make sure she didn't kill him.

Jack shot up in his hammock as soon as he heard the slamming on his concrete door, and jumped in surprise when he saw Kimiko and her reluctant army. The sudden movement of his body caused the hammock to swing out from underneath him, and he went tumbling face-first to the floor.

"_Jack Spicer_!" Kimiko roared, her voice as hard as the hatred inside her. "You've got _a lot_ of explaining to do!"

"What?" Jack timidly asked, scampering to his knees. "What happened? What'd I do now?"

"You know what you did," Kimiko cryptically answered, glaring into his eyes.

Jack blinked, trying to break the connection between their eyes. "Uh…no, I actually don't. I don't really remember anything I did that you might be angry about… Unless you mean the way I was acting yesterday with the Element Orbs; yeah I was kind of cocky, I'll admit it now…"

"You were _in the Shen-Gong-Wu vault_!" Kimiko blatantly told him. "Rai said he saw you with his own eyes last night! We need to know just _what _you were doing down there!"

"That's right!" Omi jumped in, stepping next to Kimiko and trying to look threatening. "We want you to mess up!"

"It's 'fess up," Rai corrected, gently moving Omi out of the way, and taking his place. "And I say we don't jump to conclusions. That guy I saw did kind of look like Jack…but he looked like Jack before…you know, with the trench coat, make-up, and skin dye…"

"It was still him!" Kimiko insisted. "He was there!"

"But then he disappeared when I tried to pounce on him," Rai said.

"It wasn't me!" Jack cried, trying to add to Rai's argument. "I was nowhere near the Shen-Gong-Wu Vault last night, I swear! In fact, I didn't even get out of bed."

"But Rai said he looked _exactly_ like you," Kimiko continued. "Who else has blood-red, spiky hair, white powdered skin, goggles, and a black trench coat?"

"But I don't dye my skin anymore," Jack argued. "It would have taken a lot more than two hours to dye my whole skin again, and besides, I wouldn't have been able to get it all out by now."

"You probably only dyed your hands and your face," Kimiko objected. "I think we ought to search the lab, and if we find any Shen-Gong-Wu from the vault, then you're busted, and we're reporting you to Master Fung."

"No!" Jack cried, jumping up and plastering himself in front of one of his cabinets. "You can't! You have no right to just go through my stuff without any solid evidence… I was framed! I swear; I didn't take any Shen-Gong-Wu!"

"Then why are you being so secretive about it?" Kimiko insisted. "If you're really innocent, then why don't you let me have a peek in that cabinet?"

Jack shuddered and pressed closer against the cabinet. "I have…top secret projects I'm working on in there! I want to surprise you guys when I'm finished with them. If you look at it now, it'll spoil the surprise."

Kimiko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Like I'm supposed to believe that. What are you hiding?"

"Why don't we jus' leave 'em alone?" Clay unexpectedly spoke up, and the others turned to look at him with shocked, confused expressions. "If he says he didn' do it, why don't we all believe him that he didn' do it?" Kimiko and Omi, who seemed the most adamant about Jack's conviction, gave him skeptical looks.

"Yeah, c'mon, listen to the cowboy," Jack desperately added. "You know, innocent until proven guilty…"

Omi and Kimiko stared back into his nervously grinning face. "Well, I suppose we may be jumping to conclusions a bit," Omi admitted. "We'll wait, and if we see this shadowy fellow who looks like Jack again, we'll have to make sure we catch him!"

"And if it really was you," Kimiko forcefully added. "This is your last warning before we chew you out for it. Don't think you're getting away with anything." The two of them turned around and began to head for the concrete door. Rai slowly followed after them, looking back for a moment in confusion and concern.

"Clay!" Jack called out to the cowboy before he could leave. "Thank you so much for saving my life! You deserve a hug!" He jumped forward and draped his long arms around Clay's broad shoulders.

"Hands off," he replied in a serious tone, and swatted his affectionate partner's arms off.

Jack stared after, holding his hands together as he watched the large cowboy stomp after his friends. "Well, I love you anyway!" he called. "…But not that kind of love! Brotherly love! Because we're such good friends and all… Hey…where has everybody gone?"

(-)

Heh…the young blue-haired adolescent scoffed as he sat at the edge of the Xiaolin Temple's familiar blue clay roof. So much for magical senses that could detect evil spirits.

Bob sighed as he swung his legs against the slats. He'd failed again… Why was this happening now? He'd been doing so well in the beginning, winning against Clay and Kimiko, even after they transformed. _It's because they know how to use their powers now_, his mind nitpicked, but he shook his head and tried to swat it from his brain.

Shésui didn't seem too angry with him about it. She'd been around them for so long, that they wouldn't even think of using the Biao Lu Basin on her. All by herself, she'd gotten the entire Xiaolin Temple in the palm of her hand, and now all she needed to do was clench her fist and crush it all. This was what Bob was worried about.

Sure, he must've had some effect on Jack when he was flying around and flirting with "Shelly", but he wasn't as essential to the plan as he thought. _I want her to see me as a great leader. One to be admired and adored… The CFPU is good, but not good enough… Maybe I don't really need them anymore. It doesn't…really matter… _Suddenly, he didn't see the enormous importance of cleansing the earth of minority groups. It didn't really matter to him anymore…all that mattered…was impressing Shésui, and gaining her love… She was so beautiful…

Bob rested his chin in his hand for a moment, staring pensively out at the landscape below him. Daydreaming was always fun, and he felt like simply daydreaming the day away, up here on the roof of the temple…

Just then, the piercing voice of Kimiko Tohomiko from down below snapped him out of his lulling, dreamy state. The instant she appeared on the lawn below him, he tucked himself into a gutter on the side of the roof and morphed back into his little ghost form. His body lied, motionless and unused on the side of the roof. Bob turned to look down at himself and prayed that no one would find him here. Finally, he zoomed back down and into the temple to find his love again.

(-)

It felt just like old times…and Jack couldn't tell if that was good or bad. It was just something he felt he needed to do, and that was basically all that he had been going by for the past six years.

A dull, droning buzz echoed through the underground hole, like a hundred insects flying around inside. Jack bent over the pile of tubes and wires, trembling from excitement and secrecy. If the other Xiaolin Warriors found out what he was making, he'd probably have to do evil-cleansing chores for a month…or they might even kick him out. The danger surrounding this new robot was what made creating it so exciting.

Jack was kneeling on the concrete floor, fusing one of the purple robots' small arms onto its body, with his goggles covering his eyes for protection. Strangely enough, he was wearing his ripped trench coat again, since a job like this required some heavy outer wear.

Jack remembered all of the lies he'd voiced way back when, and realized that he'd been trying to fool himself for so long. Shelly had opened his eyes to the truth…and her loving spirit partner had assured him even more. He needed one too…a constant companion. Sure the Xiaolin Warriors were his friends now, and he could always turn to them if he needed something…but it just wasn't the same as that company…

"There," Jack finally said to himself, and lifted his goggles to get a better look at the robot hovering a few inches off the ground in front of him. "Looks good. Now I just need to fine-tune its functions, give it a bad attitude…and do something about those innards…"

In front of him was a small robot whose purple siding was almost completely transparent. It was shaped like a ghost and had no feet; invisible jet streams of air kept it suspended above the ground. Its face looked like a white, yellow, and black mask, with a long red nose, and swirling yellow eyes. A darker purple patch extended from its head, and the see-through metal was flexible and floating here, ending in long tentacles. Its only flaw was the visibility of the electronic components in its body and arms, since the outside material was transparent. It looked like he'd still have a few more things to work on, but Jack still seemed very satisfied with his work.

"Here you go," he softly said, and stuck an identification tag on the bottom of the mask. "Model #1028," the tag read. "Wuya II".

(-)

_Here we go again…_ Shésui thought as she lightly stepped down the stairs towards the dungeon that Jack Spicer liked to call home. _This should be the last time, _she reassured herself. _Tonight, or perhaps tomorrow…__ Yes, definitely by tomorrow, if this has progressed as far as I think it has…_ Frankly, she was just getting sick of coming down to visit this simple-minded little boy, as much fun as it was toying with him. Even her own fake interest and admiration was repulsing her.

Bobby flew up beside her, finally finding her after his long search of the temple. She hadn't been in her cubicle where he'd expected her to be.

"_There _you are," Shésui hissed to him. "I was afraid I'd have to look for you and start asking everyone if they'd seen my 'spirit partner."

Bob hung his little ghostly head, meaning to say sorry. Since he wasn't really dead, just acting out-of-body, he couldn't speak. _Oh, great_, he thought instead. _Another strike against me._

At last, Shelly approached the large, concrete door, but stopped when she noticed the new signs plastered on its front. In addition to the "Jack Spicer's Non-Evil Laboratory" sign, a new one reading "Please knock and wait for a reply!" had been pasted just above a "I do Math and Science homework! Just $2 an assignment!" advertisement. Shésui rolled her eyes and reached up to pound against the door. He should still be in there; he hadn't been to the Xiaolin Warriors' training session earlier that day.

Master Fung had been considerably suspicious, especially with the two new Element Orbs. He now believed that one contained good powers, while the other evil, since Jack was half Xiaolin Warrior and half Heylin clan follower, but that was still just a theory. If he went too far back towards the dark side, he'd gain his evil Element Orb powers instead…and who knows what might happen.

Just as Shésui suspected, a few seconds later, that familiar voice called, "Come in!" and she turned the handle to step in

Jack was actually grateful that Shelly had come by. He was looking forward to having her visit again. It wasn't that he favored her, or even that he had been getting tired of Kimiko, but Shelly's strange aura was so enrapturing that he had to investigate it further. Her glittering gaze seemed to submerge him in a magical, omnipotent dimension, yet somehow, he didn't feel threatened or even outsmarting. It was so…gentle and comforting in that essence, and that was what compelled him the most.

"Good afternoon, Jack," that familiar, hypnotizing voice fluctuated from her throat.

"Now what do you want?" Jack complained, trying to pretend he didn't want her around.

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to come see you. You weren't at the training session today, so I missed you."

As unrelated as the two things seemed, having Shelly around almost reminded Jack of the time he'd spent with Wuya. Though they were often frustrated with each other, or just plain getting on each other's nerves, they were just…always there. Wuya had been a constant companion to him…almost like his first real friend…even though she hadn't really been. The little purple ghost was always there to talk to…he could say anything to her, knowing that she wouldn't leave, because she depended on him to carry out her works. Now that time was gone, and he only had unpredictable humans to deal with…not that Wuya hadn't been unpredictable. He'd been truly shocked that day she had betrayed him for Mala Mala Jong.

Perhaps it was the presence of that mysterious entity, Bobby. At the moment, the shapeless oblong spirit was whirling around Shelly's ankles, but she didn't seem to care. In fact, her entire being seemed to be focused exclusively on Jack. All the attention was driving the initial, skeptical intentions from Jack's mind.

"Well, of course you did. I do that on purpose sometimes to keep everyone comin' back for more."

Shésui smiled truthfully back as Jack flashed his arrogant grin at her. _Perfect_, she secretly stated. _He's completely under my spell; not even thinking about my effect. It'll be easy to convince him now…_ She casually seated herself on a bench near Jack's clothes cabinet (which was actually the former Shen-Gong-Wu-holding cabinet). "So…how's your work coming along?" she asked, meaning both literally and in her own sense.

"Pretty good," Jack replied, and Shésui had to agree. "I'm designing a few new things now. They're based on previous models, but I really think they'll be effective. I'm attempting to develop materials with the ability to merge and then diverge from another solid object. This will allow me to create machines that are able to pass through solid walls without a scratch."

"Cool," Shésui added, nodding her brown head in false interest. _Such underdeveloped creatures…all it takes is a good solid wall to stop them…_

"But I've still got quite a bit of adjusting to do," Jack kept rambling, on his brag. "…because not even Wuya could get through my Silver Shield, or escape from the beam of the Soul Scepter."

Shésui had to work hard to keep her indifferent, casual expression. He'd just mentioned Wuya, the Silver Shield, and the Soul Scepter in one sentence! Somehow, she liked the way this conversation was turning…

"I have to extend their properties to be able to merge with magically-created substances…"

"Wouldn't you have to study them?" Shésui finally contributed.

"Huh?" Jack's brag bubble popped and he was suddenly thrust back into the real world. "What was that?"

"I said wouldn't you have to study them? The magical substances, that is."

"Well, yes. I would have to study the chemical properties of the Silver Shield and the Soul Scepter's capture beam, although I have no idea how I'll…"

"You miss her, don't you?" Shésui finally dived straight in. She'd already gotten him hooked; there was no use in beating around the bush any more.

"Who?" Jack innocently questioned.

"Your spirit partner." She cleverly avoided simply saying "Wuya", in order to look like she didn't know too much about it.

"Well, Wuya was different. She's not a normal spirit partner, like Bobby. She was a pure evil ancient sorceress…"

"You didn't say that you don't miss her," Shésui gently insisted. "It doesn't matter if she was evil or not; if she was your spirit partner for awhile and then left you, you must miss her."

"Well…" Jack slowly admitted. "I have been thinking about it. It's not like I can do anything about it. You know, Shelly, you're very lucky to have a partner like Bobby."

"I know. I _feel _very lucky. I feel sorry for you, Jack. You always seem to get the short end of the deal…" _Appealing to his inner ego and self-pity.__ Yet another good strategy…_

At last, Jack took a deep breath and sat, cautiously on the bench, next to her. It was too late, that swirling vortex of mystique and sincerity was winning him over already. All he could think about now was Shelly…and that time before. "You're absolutely right," he admitted as he slowly exhaled. "C-Can you promise to keep this a secret from the others, because if they found out, they'd _really _hate me…"

Shésui nodded. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say, and tried to control her eagerness and excitement by nodding.

"I…I have been missing Wuya…just because she was always around all the time before. I don't know why I suddenly miss her now, but I really do…"

"It's okay," Shésui feigned a comforting tone. "I completely understand. "Even if my Bobby were an evil spirit, I'd want him back at all costs if he were taken away from me."

"I even made _this_," Jack continued in his desperate, pathetic tone, pulling out the Wuya II to show her.

"Whoa," Shésui commented, with a hint of truthfulness in her voice, since she was in fact, a smidgeon impressed. "That's a pretty good replica."

"Yeah, but it's not as good as the real thing," Jack insisted, jabbing his index finger at the middle. "You can still see her guts. And I haven't installed the merging-diverging components and the personality and voice chips…"

"Yeah…" Shésui unsteadily agreed. She wasn't exactly sure what to do now without making her intentions blatantly obvious. "But you'll get it soon. I'm sure. Then, we'll both have spirit partners! See, I knew I liked you for some reason. We have a lot in common."

Jack smiled for a moment, his cheeks blushing, apprehensively. Part of him was shocked and delighted to have a girl as gorgeous as Shelly truly attracted to him, but another part remembered Kimiko and reprimanded him, even though she wasn't his girlfriend anymore.

Shésui smiled back. Jack was just so cute…so cute and air-headed, and easy to manipulate. It was a miracle that he managed to build things like the Wuya II when he was so adorably oblivious.

"Thank you for understanding…" Jack at last spoke up again, giving her a quick hug, and she nearly broke out in laughter at the irony of it.

Bob drifted to the front and landed, gently on top of Jack's head. He wished to show Shésui that he had successfully performed his duty as an example of loving human-spirit relationships. _I'll go to any lengths_, he realized as he nestled in Jack's hair and inwardly laughed at his barely visible orange roots.

Shésui eventually pushed away from him, compelled Bob to follow her, and left Jack to his thinking solitude. _Tomorrow_, she decided. _It's too early right now, but tomorrow…_ The red dots of her eyes bubbled to the surface for a second, and she glanced back at the two Metal Orbs sitting on fashioned wooden pedestals like bowling balls on display. _Yes…definitely tomorrow._

(-)

The dark, cool night blew against Kimiko's exposed thighs as she traveled the halls near the Shen-Gong-Wu vault, guarding it from any shadowy apparitions resembling Jack Spicer. She'd suggested they keep watch tonight and get a photograph if that figure appeared again to see if it really was Jack. Too tired to care, Omi, Clay, Rai, and Dojo had quickly nominated her as Shen-Gong-Wu vault guard.

Kimiko stormed, angrily down the hall and fumed. How come nobody else wants to expose the truth about the burglar? No one else wanted to find out who could be stealing the Shen-Gong-Wu! There could be evil right here among them, and nobody cared!

As she came to the end of the corridor and emerged in the round vault room, made mystical and dangerous in the dark sheen of the night, she thought she heard a rustling from behind her. Quickly, Kimiko whirled around, trying to catch the source of the movement, but she could see nothing in the blackness of the corridor. A few Chinese lanterns hung on strings at certain portions of the wall, but the gaps between their sparse spots of light were completely blackened. Oh well…it had probably only been one of the nocturnal creatures that lived around the temple, or Dojo stumbling around, looking for his litter box.

Reassured, she turned back out to the scene at the vault and squinted. It was awfully hard to try to find someone wearing all black in the blackness of the darkened vault. Just then, she began to hear noises from behind her again, but this sounded much different. It sounded exactly like someone crying.

Glancing back again, Kimiko noticed a small lump near the right wall, close to one of the lanterns. From the shape of the figure, it looked to be a small child. Where did this kid come from? she wondered. Whatever had happened, this kid didn't seem too happy. Maybe he'd wandered into the temple by accident.

"…Help…" the child whispered to itself, since Kimiko was so silent, that she could hear everything. "…I'm lost…"

"Hello…" Kimiko softly said, stepping forward to come to the child's aid. "You're in the Xiaolin Temple. It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Kimiko…"

Immediately, the child jumped up, into the dark splotches, facing her now, but it was too dark to see its face. The shadow had short hair, so Kimiko figured it was a boy, even though she couldn't be sure. "Wh-who are you?" he called, his voice a little louder now.

"I told you, my name is Kimiko. I'm a Xiaolin Warrior. I won't hurt you. Are you okay?" She took another step, hoping to reach the boy's side, identify him, and help him find his way home.

"Don't come any closer!" the boy cried, his voice suddenly loud and full of horror. "You're one of _them_!"

"One of _who_?" Kimiko asked. "One of the Chosen Ones, yes, but there's nothing to be afraid of. We're good people. We'll help you find your way home…"

"_Guests_!" the little boy shrieked, in a terrible, high-pitched voice. He buried his invisible face in his small hands and started crying again.

"I'm not a guest," Kimiko gently insisted. "I live here. I just want to help you…"

"No, you don't…" the boy persistently kept on.

"I'll help you find your home…"

"Liar!" the child cried again, looking up from his hands. "You don't know where I live…no one knows where I live, except me, and I'm not telling you where I…" The boy's voice had been consistently growing softer and at last it completely faded out, as well as his body.

Kimiko squinted into the dark corridor, trying to make out if he had simply turned around and walked off down the hall. She gingerly stepped up to the spot where the child had just been standing. There was no trace of his shadow further down the hall…and if he'd ran away that quickly, she should've been able to hear his pulsating footsteps. A horrified shudder voluntarily slipped over Kimiko's shoulders and the wind at her bare legs suddenly felt colder. It was like he had just…vanished into thin air.

Suddenly, she heard the stomping of eight feet and two claws rumbling towards her. Dojo, Omi, Rai, Clay, and Jack appeared around the corner of the hall, all in their PJs. "Hey, what happened here?" Clay asked, stepping closer and trying to flatten his blond bed-head.

"Yeah, we heard someone scream!" Rai added, wide awoke. He glanced, nervously around the area, in case the screaming entity reappeared.

"Was it you?" Omi asked. "It sounded like a girl's scream."

"That doesn't tell us anything," Dojo told him. "With that description, it could very well have been Jack."

"Ugghhhhhuh?" Jack groaned, rubbing his eyes, too tired to get that he was being made fun of.

"There was a little kid in the temple just now…" Kimiko explained, still a bit spooked. "It looked like a boy, but it might have been a girl. I couldn't see his face… He was screaming 'guests'…and I think he was lost, but he was afraid of me and wouldn't let me help him."

"Guests?" Rai questioned, raising a thick, brown eyebrow. "That's an odd thing to be screaming about…"

"He just disappeared into thin air!" Kimiko suddenly cried at them. "It's like he dissolved into the atmosphere or something! But I know I wasn't hallucinating, because you all heard the scream…"

"Maybe it was a ghost!" Omi deduced, looking proud of himself.

"_Ghost?_" Clay, Dojo, Jack, and Rai cried, stricken with the possibility. "That's spooky…" Rai commented, shivering and glancing around again.

"Help!" Dojo cried, and shot into Omi's robes again.

Omi rolled his eyes and pulled him back out. "Spirits are nothing to be afraid of. Most can't even touch you or hold material objects…"

Jack, woken up now by the mention of that one word, grabbed Rai's sleeve and tried to hide behind him. "I'm scared of ghosts…" he whimpered.

"Jack…" Rai said, a laugh brimming at the edge of his voice. "…You used to _live_ with one."

"Oh, yeah…" Jack at last agreed, pulling a bit away from him. "But…this one's different! It's scary!"

"And Wuya _wasn't_?" Rai insisted, but Jack was back to panicking and trying to hide, and he didn't listen. "Hey…you know…" Rai slowly spoke up. "You said it just dissolved into thin air…that's exactly the same thing that happened with that guy I saw in the vault."

"Who knows?" Omi concluded. "We could have several mischievous spirits about…"

"Shut up!" everyone else shot at him. It took a lot of prodding to get everyone back in their own cubicles and sleeping soundly, but even in the midst of their horror, they didn't realize what had really happened.

The appearance of that spooky, mysterious boy had somehow calmed Kimiko's nerves. For the rest of the night, and into the morning of the next day, she showed no signs of bitterness to anyone, even Jack and Shelly.

(-)

It was so dark. The impenetrable darkness crept up upon every life form, every object, every falsely living object. There was no night light tonight. It's too dark…too dark to make a connection between two beings and forces. Yes…there was the light upstairs, but that was out of the question for now.

Who would be with him when sleep had claimed them? Not the robots…they were only repeating words and phrases he had programmed into them, or that they had learned and mimicked from other humans, or from television. Who would be there when he was working, alone within his own boundaries? Who would be there when nobody else was?

Jack stared at the dully flickering computer screen in front of him. It became a solid blur, and though his eyes were completely open, looking straight at it, he couldn't see it at all. Words and pictures were flashing through his head, more vividly than the mumbled electronic Jibberish before his eyes. It was a whirlwind of sights, sounds, and events.

At first, only black snatches of opaque, billowing fabric flapped by his face, in elegant succession. There was a true beauty and art to be found in the shadows, and he faintly remembered that as moving day, his declaration of frustration with the world…and those pretty green splotches never looked so inviting.

Then, a moment of silent success and failure. He had finally achieved what everyone had hoped he'd achieve for so long…but then again, that was only conformist. A falsified rejection letter later, and it would begin…that period of magical wonder and liberation that only came from the liberation of someone else… Such pretty green splotches, up there on that piece of blue paper. Pictures…of reluctant, joking camera tests, and amusing video interactions. Then, the words…those horrifyingly true, deep words.

"And Wuya _wasn't_?"

"A ghost? You mean she was like your spirit partner?"

"It doesn't matter if she was evil or not, if she was your spirit partner for a while, and then left you, you must miss her."

"Even if my Bobby were an evil spirit, I'd want him back at all costs if he were taken away from me…"

"…A constant companion…"

Disturbed and unsettled by these thoughts, Jack rose from his computer desk and quickly turned to stride out the door. For a reflecting moment, he leaned against the gray, concrete door. _What am I thinking?_ He tried to reason with himself. _Why am I thinking about Wuya? Sure, she was the first living thing that actually stuck by me for more than a day, but only because she had to. She wasn't really my friend…even though it was fun messing around with her…and most of the time, I was happy when I was around her. It was the first time I'd felt that way. But, now I have the others guys, who are much better, right?_

Jack stopped and frowned at that thought. Kimiko hated him now… Well, she hated him _again_. Omi had his suspicions. Ever since that interrogation day, he'd been on his tail, making sure he was still working to potential and hadn't really been stealing Shen-Gong-Wu from the vault. Clay couldn't stand him either…he just stood up for justice. The friendliest one seemed to be Rai, and Rai loved to make fun of him, along with Dojo. By this time in his train of thought, Jack was naturally beginning to feel worthless once again. He needed someone…someone who needed him.

Controlled, puppet-like by the jumbled threads of his heart, Jack took a step forward and soon found himself ascending the basement stairs. Feelings were filling up his body for the first time in eight months…exhilarating feelings for danger, power, and possibility. The rhythm of his footsteps grew more urgent and desperate.

He was now traveling down the old, familiar cubicle hallway where the other Xiaolin Warriors were emitting snores of various strength and pitch. Yes…they were so peaceful in their own little world without him. Sentences were coming back into his mind as he passed by, as much as he tried to fling them from his mind by despairingly jerking his head away.

"…and why the heck does he have _two?_" Rai's angry, criticizing voice, as he passed the Brazilian's cubicle. That's right. He really shouldn't have _two_ Element Orbs when he was so inferior…

"That's right!" Omi's little menacing voice echoed. "We want you to mess up!" That worked on two separate levels- literally and by the intentional meaning. An image of the little, misunderstanding monk sleeping upside down on his head flashed through one red eye.

"Hands off." The gruff, disgusted voice of Clay, and a familiar sting on the wrists. He'd defended him only because it was unjust not to. Not because he cared. That was the way everything seemed.

Coldness shot violently through his heart, passing by Kimiko's chamber. "…I'm not going to fall for your little mercy acts anymore, Jack!" Her menacing face, filled with hatred…hatred that he had gotten used to never seeing for so long… "I mean it! We're through! GOOD RIDDANCE!"

This was the way things were. Just…no one cared anymore. Except…possibly Shelly… "…Then we'll both have spirit partners! See, I knew I liked you for some reason. We have a lot in common." She liked him…she had a crush on him…but only if he had a spirit partner, like her.

These forces compelled Jack forward, like a motor of thoughts and memories, unsure of exactly how or why it worked, but whirring uncontrollably, because it had no other purpose in life. He had passed the little dormitory stalls by now, and headed mechanically for the door at the end of the hall. Straight ahead…and around another corner. Jack knew, subconsciously where he was going, but had no idea why or what he was going there for.

At last, it appeared in front of him again for the thousandth time…something familiar, yet slightly frightening and exhilarating. Jack took a pause to stare at it in wonder. The Shen-Gong-Wu vault. Although Shen-Gong-Wu didn't really matter to him now, the vault still retained that mysterious, omnipotent presence. It was somehow sacred and rare, and before he knew it, he was reaching the center of the circular mat and pressing a switch to uncover the entrance. Jack stared down at the flight of steps, descending into the dark depths of the magical, breathtaking chamber.

Then, instantly, his mind returned to those memories, those jumbling thoughts and puppet strings. Shelly's smile, Kimiko's glare, Clay's frown, Rai's snicker, Omi's gape, Master Fung's stare, Bobby's joyous nuzzling…the weaving threads of people's actions, muddled dialogue, and implied ideas…they all weren't making any sense…but all Jack could think about was Shelly. He needed her now, since no one else would listen and stay by him…but she wanted…

With an uncontrolled urgency gripping his body and soul, he finally made his move, springing forth into the unknown fate contained in that dark vault.

Just behind him, from the other darkness produced by the shade of a long, wooden pillar, two sparkling blue eyes looked towards the vault and danced, magically across the kitchen floor in their triumphant delight.

By now, Jack was tearing through the spiraling Shen-Gong-Wu vault. Draws illuminated by the hanging Chinese lanterns flew by his face in a blur of blue, black, and gold. His feet pounded all by themselves over the steps, flying towards their destination, as if he still had his trademark HeliPack. Those voices, those thoughts…ungrateful Warriors, loving Bobby, ungrateful Warriors, loving Shelly, ungrateful Warriors…loving Wuya. Unexpectedly, that purple wisp of a witch permeated back into his mind. A spirit partner…a constant companion…someone who needed him. Jack was whipping so quickly and swiftly over the stone steps that he didn't even notice the tears, drying from his cheeks as the stirred wind pushed, resisting against him.

At last, his pounding feet reached their destination…the back wall…where his rights lied, locked up inside a box. His magic…his desire…and his company. Filled with anger at the world around him, desperate desire to make someone stay with him, and sorrow of rejection, Jack held up his hands and yelled, his voice piercing and forceful from his confusing, compelling emotions. "EXPLOSION CRASH, METAL!"

The attack seemed stronger, yin-yangs and spikes lined by a dark aura, and they crashed, painfully against the crackling magic barrier surrounding that cabinet. With a terrible, appropriate explosion noise, the barrier broke apart, the particles of the protective ring dispersing around it in a cloud of destruction.

Without hesitation, Jack rushed forward, slammed the door of the cabinet open in his desperate, painful confusion, and wrenched his glittering, golden Soul Scepter from its depth. For a pensive moment, he stared, intensely into the golden fibers and the red, cloudy aura inside of its crystal ball. His breath was snatched from him as he stared deep into the orb…finally…it truly felt like he had found his Element Orb.

Meanwhile, in the distance, a pair of blue high-heeled shoes tapped themselves lightly and undetectably over the stone of the Shen-Gong-Wu Vault steps. Her long, slinky blue dress dragged elegantly over the dark granite. Shésui passed her thin, bony hand over the round, stone cylinder at the center of the vault as she moved steadily closer…she could see in the distance the red glow radiated by the tip of the Soul Scepter. Of course. Her judgment and tactics had never failed her before. An eagerly sinister and almost bloodthirsty smile pinched onto her face, her snakelike fangs beginning to poke out.

The faithful and useless little blob of Bob's spirit floated, suspenseful at her side. Gently, and commandingly, she easily reached up and grabbed the intangible little ghost. She held him, curled in her hand, and flung him backwards, compelling him back into his body at her will. There would be no further use for him. The time had come.

Trance-like, Jack stared into the Soul Scepter's orb. He'd been forbidden to touch it for so long, that he had forgotten just why he'd been forbidden to touch it. Oh…that's right. Because Wuya was inside of it. Wuya…Shelly…companion…

At last, in his final, desperate attempt to gain what he truly wanted, rebelling against these confusing, intensifying thoughts, Jack shoved the Soul Scepter into the air. His arms lay crossed over his head as his hands gripped the cool, heavy golden handle. The tears were dripping over his cheeks now, and he could feel them as he stood still and his head raised, to look up into that swirling power. It didn't matter…no one cared…a constant companion...

"…SOUL SCEPTER, METAL!" Jack at last cried out, his voice almost screaming with the pain, loneliness, and frantic desperation in his heart. Instantly, a red and purple burst of magical energy erupted from the end of the scepter. It whirled up in formation above the horizontally held scepter, and the painful, pinched face of Jack Spicer. This essence produced such a terrible blast of power that his arms were beginning to shake under its magical weight. His naturally and genetically weak body couldn't stand up against the force of what he had released.

At last, feverish, emotionally worn out, and psychically unstable, Jack's body relaxed, the Soul Scepter falling from his hands and clattering against the ground with a clink. Jack soon followed the scepter, crumpling, uselessly against the cold stone steps. His purpose had also been fulfilled. Like Bob, his job was now done…and someday, he would return to his mind.

(-)

"Oh my God! What was _that?_" Kimiko, awoken out of her sweet, innocent slumber by the racket from the vault, urgently shot up into a sitting position.

"I have no idea," Omi admitted, walking placidly around the corner and into Kimiko's cubicle. "Are you okay, Kimiko?"

"I'm fine…Rai! Clay!"

"We're right here," Clay confirmed, appearing behind Omi with Rai standing next to him. Unlike the previous night, everyone was completely awake, their wide, quizzical eyes staring at Kimiko.

"I heard this loud banging…" Rai spoke up, looking around the immediate area, furtively.

"And someone screaming," Omi added, nodding his large, round head in agreement. "Was it that young child ghost you saw before?"

Kimiko shook her head, her black pigtails bouncing on the sides. "No. I don't think so. It didn't really sound like it. And besides, it sounded like it came from…" Instantly, her body, as well as her voice froze in mid-sentence. "It…was…coming from…the Shen-Gong-Wu vault!"

With that, she shot up out from underneath her covers and looked toward the door to the left, where the vault was located. A silent glance of consent passed among the warriors and they unanimously took off in the direction in which Kimiko had glanced. Only a few moments later, the four of them tapped into the vault room, and noticed that the stairs were down, and it lay gaping and open in front of them.

"…Someone got into the vault," Kimiko amazedly stated, in a hushed whisper to her teammates.

"Maybe it's that weird shadow guy I saw that looked like Jack…" Rai quietly theorized.

Omi boldly stepped forward, and the others followed, reluctantly behind as he stepped into the mysterious and eerie darkness of the vault. It suddenly seemed a lot more foreboding and dangerous than normal, perhaps because of the suspicious noises that had been heard emanating from it.

As the four Xiaolin Warriors slowly crept closer and closer to the bottom of the well, they could hear a pair of voices, and the sinister, hateful lining of them confirmed some of their suspicions. Then, they heard a very familiar pair of phrases that none of them had ever hoped to hear again…

"Serpent's Tail!"

"Reversing Mirror!"

There came a terrible, familiar clashing noise, and a minute later, a horrifyingly familiar voice slithered to their ears. "Fool," the malevolent, self-assured female voice wavered out. "You did know that by returning me to my body, you would also return me to my full powers, didn't you?"

The Xiaolin Warriors froze in place at the pillar, right around the bend from this event. Slowly, their eyes widened in terror and disbelief. "…_Wuya?_" Rai at last whispered into the others' ears. "But…I thought…"

"…She was trapped in the Soul Scepter…" Kimiko finished, looking dreadfully further down the stairs.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," an equally sinister and demonically hissing voice answered. "Now I can finally prove that I can beat you, even at your full powers, and get my revenge for your trapping me in that Wheel of Quan Lao and trying to banish me. It didn't work, did it? I eventually found my way back to Earth…and now…you're going to pay!"

A dreadful crashing of magical substances boomed from around the corner. The two witches were fighting, and foolishly curious, little Omi rushed headlong into the heat of battle.

"Omi!" Kimiko hissed and rushed after him, followed closely by Rai and Clay. They didn't want to see this…they didn't really want to believe that Wuya had become flesh once again, but they couldn't deny the truth. The four of them froze and gaped at the awkward, dangerous scene before them.

Wuya and Shésui were floating, magically in the air, hurling bursts of dark power at each other. Neither one of them seemed to be winning, and their clashing energy comets just seemed to meet each other and explode on impact. Still, the restful looks on both Heylin witches' faces displayed the loathe they felt for the other. Below them, Jack lied in a limp, fainted heap over the stairs, the Soul Scepter sitting, guiltily next to him.

"…Jack?" Kimiko whispered in wonder, but soon tore her eyes from the sight to concentrate on the hazardous battle before them.

The battle became increasingly more intense, and the colors of Wuya's curly red hair and short black dress, and Shésui's wavy brown hair and long blue dress flashed before their eyes.

At last, exasperated with this terrible revelation, Rai called out, so both witches could hear. "…_Shelly?_"

Shésui whipped her head around, glaring down at the Xiaolin Warriors with contempt. "Shut up, you incompetent little kids!" she snapped. "My name isn't Shelly! That was only an identity I created to deceive you!"

A cold, shocked silence passed over the four of them. "Then…who _are_ you?" Omi asked, in slight fear and suspense.

"She's an annoying little pest, that's who she is," Wuya growled in the distance, raising a shaking fist.

"My name is Shésui," the other witch continued, ignoring her rival. "I am one of the highest, most powerful Heylin witches in the universe. Centuries ago, _this _old jealous suck-up trapped me in the Wheel of Quan Lao, one of the Heylin Shen-Gong-Wu, and sent me to the far reaches of outer space." Accusingly, Shésui jabbed her crooked index finger towards Wuya in resentment.

"Oh, _please_," Wuya nonchalantly replied, crossing her arms and cocking her head to the side. "I was never _jealous_, and least of all, of _you_. I merely wanted you out of my way."

"But I found my way back!" Shésui dramatically continued her story, ignoring her again. "Eventually, the orbiting Wheel found its way back here, and fell back onto this world! You thought you could get rid of me forever by casting me into the depths of space? Hah! There are such things as _meteorites_, you know."

Rai's eyes widened as he stared up into the menacing face of Shésui. Just like Wuya, she also had long, pointy ears and three line markings under her eyes. "So…it was _you_," he realized. "That was _you _that fell from the sky in Brazil when the others came to bring me back."

Shésui smiled, showing her forked tongue and a bit of her fangs. "It was so much fun playing with your simple little minds…making you believe I was another Xiaolin Dragon, and manipulating that pathetic little boy, so he would release Wuya for me." She paused to gesture with her arm towards Jack's body in the distance. Kimiko's slanted blue eyes widened and she gently covered her mouth with a hand. At last, she realized what had truly happened that day. "Oh, well. Now I can have the pleasure of destroying you."

"What about our battle?" Wuya insisted, at last floating up and demanding to be heard. "Before you have the pleasure of destroying them, I want the pleasure of destroying you."

"No, no, that can wait for now," Shésui replied, trying to wave Wuya off, to her disgust and rage. "First we must get rid of this bothersome temple. Then we'll finish what we started."

"Very well then," Wuya at last agreed, staring down at the Xiaolin Warriors in malevolent glee. "The pleasure of crushing these little Xiaolin nuisances will have to do for now."

Rai, Omi, Kimiko, and Clay jumped into position and readied themselves for attack. "Dragon X Penté Formation!" they called, even though there was an empty space where Jack was supposed to be. The attack still worked as it normally did, and they each glowed in their respective element colors and their specialized uniforms faded onto their bodies.

"This ain't gonna work," Clay pessimistically whispered. "Remember the last time we fought Wuya? We couldn't even put a scratch on her…and now she's got a partner who's jus' as powerful!"

"Ah, but we are much more powerful as well," Omi reassured him. "We have our Element Orbs! Tornado Dragon Strike, Water!" The little yellow-skinned monk, clad in his small blue princely water uniform sprang from Kimiko's head and twisted his body in the middle of the two interweaving streams of water. But by that time, it was too late.

Wuya and Shésui simultaneously lifted their arms and called a deadly incantation to the heavens. Suddenly, the ceiling blew to pieces and fell down, threateningly around them.

"Get down!" Rai yelled, pushing his fellow Warriors flat against the steps next to him. This way, they might be able to escape the heavy, falling rubble.

The two Heylin witches flew up through this destruction and continued to the rest of the temple, assuming that they had killed the Xiaolin Warriors already.

Kimiko, Omi, Clay, and Rai pressed their heads against the floor as they heard horrifying explosions above them. There was nothing they could do now. Pillars and pounds of clay, wood, and glass tumbled down into a smoky haze of dust, as the Xiaolin Temple was quickly and expertly destroyed.


	8. Identity Crisis

Hello again. Hmm, issues, issues. The whole separate Jacks thing might seem kind of weird, but just go with it. Jadebell, it might seem like I stole your idea of the soul wandering while sleeping, but I made up this part before I read Dream Tomorrow. I just sort of…borrowed it as an explanation? Well, you don't mind, right? Anyway, the parts at the end might seem kind of rushed and not as good as the rest of the story, because they _were_… This chapter is the first one without Bob in it, but he'll be showing up later. Yin Jack's costume was inspired by the costume he wears in his daydream in "Year of the Green Monkey". It's not exactly the same, but very similar. Uh…that's about it. Oh, and yes, I actually kept a list of all the yin-yang symbols I saw, and there were twenty-five… even though I know there might be more. If anyone has seen any in The Shard of Lightning, Dreamscape, Master Monk Guan, The Last Temptation of Raimundo, Year of the Green Monkey, The Apprentice, and Dangerous Minds, please let me know!

Thank you for all your reviews and your patience! Unfortunately, the dreaded S word has begun, and I've been side-tracked with a few other inspirations lately, so this is going on hiatus since I haven't exactly started Chapter 9 yet…I need to figure out exactly how this is going to proceed. Of course I know what's going to happen, but I need to figure out what order it needs to happen in. Correll- yes Jack's mother does live at the temple, and I just realized that I didn't even put her in last chapter at all… I really need to start using her more…but she's in this one, and she'll play an important role in the future. Jadebell- Hmm, Chase Young, Chase Young… Well, I didn't really want to include him much, since this doesn't follow the Season 2 storyline, but I suppose I'll have to put him in sooner or later, as one of the yin-yangs is in his lair. Either next chapter or chapter 10. Once again, this is going on hiatus! If you're going to review just to badger me for the next chapter, don't review at all. If you feel the need to "poke" me, do it through my e-mail address! It's in my profile!

(-)

Chapter 8: Identity Crisis

No one had any idea how much time had passed, simply because it had been so short of a time, yet it felt so long to them.

Omi squirmed against the arms of Kimiko and Rai, who were holding him pinned to the stone step inside the Shen-Gong-Wu vault. "Let me out!" he cried. "What are you doing! We all should be out there defending the temple! Let go of me!"

"Omi…" Rai tried to reason with him. "It's useless. There's nothing we can do. Did you see the way they nearly killed us just with one incantation! It's better if we stay here and wait until it's over and then figure out a plan…"

"_What?_" Omi yelled in stark disbelief. "You want me to just lie here and wait while the Xiaolin Temple is being destroyed? Perhaps you truly _are _evil!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Omi," Kimiko carefully said, repositioning her arm around his small body so he wouldn't slip out. "Rai is right. If we faced those witches again right now, we'd probably be killed. If we die, then who will be left to save the world from 1000 years of darkness?"

Omi grumbled, but at last consented and fell back to the ground between them. At last, the saddening rubble settled, and they couldn't hear the grinding, crashing noises of the witches' powers, like bombs exploding, anymore.

Slowly, Clay sat up and used all of his inherent strength to lift the heavy blocks of stone off of them. As soon as it was open enough for him to slip out, Omi dashed from underneath the rock and catapulted his light body up over the randomly placed pieces of the ceiling and towards the top of the vault. Clay finally pushed the stone slab completely off of them, and threw it over to crash against another one on its left.

Ever since Shésui had revealed her secret plan, Kimiko's mind had been focused on one thing, and she stepped a bit further down the steps to attend to it. Concernedly, Rai and Clay followed behind her. "Jack…" her soft, confused, and amazed voice said, partly to herself, and partly to the unconscious figure on the steps at her feet. She kneeled on the scratchy rock floor beside him, and reached out to lift the piece of the wooden banister that had fallen on top of him.

Jack was a little bruised from where the wooden plank had smacked into him, but other than that, he looked fine, except that he hadn't woken up yet. Kimiko threw the plank into the rest of the pile of debris and leaned closer over his body, while Clay and Rai drew closer behind her.

"What happened? Is he okay?" Rai asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Jack…" Kimiko repeated, staring down at his still form with guilt and regret.

Finally, he began to twitch back to life, and he instinctually pulled himself into a position facing upwards, as if awakening out of a deep slumber. His glassy red eyes rose from underneath his eyelids again, and he blinked in confusion and curiosity as Kimiko's familiar head focused into view in front of him. "Kimiko…?" he asked, wondering about the unusually soft expression on her face. She was still angry with him…she hated him, didn't she?

Relieved for the moment, Kimiko threw her arms around his neck, pulling him up into a sitting position. "Oh, Jack, I'm glad you're all right. …I'm sorry. I didn't know…about Shelly…I mean Shésui…"

"Huh?" Jack awkwardly replied, figuring out how to speak again. "…What happened?" He searched through his mind and tried to remember the last thing that had happened, but it was all a blank image. All he could recall was pain…some sort of emotional pain, and then this blackness and Kimiko's face.

"Shelly was really an evil Heylin witch named Shésui," Kimiko explained. "She was using you for her plan to get back at Wuya…"

_Wuya_… Jack glanced over Kimiko's shoulder and noticed the Soul Scepter, lying indestructible underneath another slab of concrete. That was right…he'd been using it when he wasn't supposed to…and now… "Oh! Oh no! Oh my God!" Jack suddenly snapped into panic mode, now out of his sleepy, awakening state. "Wuya! I…she…but…well… The Temple!" He jumped up, out of Kimiko's arms and stared at the pieces of temple debris strewn throughout the vault, biting his nails. "I didn't mean for…did it really…I wasn't in my right mind…"

"We know," Kimiko finished, standing up beside him, and looking forlornly over at the broken stone slabs. "You released Wuya again…but only because Shésui was putting the wrong things into your mind and messing with your mental stability. That other time…she probably wrote that note and made sure she did something so I would see you hugging her. That's what you were trying to explain to me, wasn't it?"

Jack took a deep breath and quickly nodded his head. At first, he wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about, but slowly he was beginning to understand. Shelly was really an evil Heylin witch…and she'd been tricking him all this time…implanting ideas in his head and reeling him in like a helpless fish. His hand clenched into a fist at his side. "I can't believe I couldn't figure it out…" he said to himself, his voice low. "I should've realized when she acted like she _wanted _me to release Wuya… I'm a boy genius; I should've been able to figure that out!" Promptly, he turned to bang his head against the center pillar, but as soon as he did, the whole pillar gave off a low rumbling sound and a large, splitting crack zigzagged its way through the stone.

"Quick!" Clay cried, turning to sprint back up the littered steps. "Before the stairs collapse!" The four of them scrambled over the oddly placed debris and towards the pinpoint of light where the entrance lied.

"Oh, man…" Jack whimpered to himself as Kimiko dragged him by the wrist behind her. "…I wish I had my HeliPack now…" He couldn't vault up the debris as quickly as the others, so Kimiko had to guide him like this.

"Yeah, no kidding," Rai shot back down at him. "The one time we actually _need_ them, and where are they?"

Jack hung his head, but didn't reply because the rumbling, cracking, and splitting noises of the collapsing pillar drowned out all other noises. Thankfully, Clay, followed by Rai, and then Kimiko and Jack leaped out of the hole in the ground just as the pillar crumbled to pieces, and slipped downwards, the rest of the stones breaking into jagged slabs and falling into unrecognizable ruin.

"Phew," Rai panted, taking a deep breath and trying to recover from the adrenaline rush. Clay crossed his broad arms and frowned at the surroundings, which thankfully, the other Xiaolin Warriors hadn't noticed yet. Kimiko released Jack's wrist and leaned her hands against her knees to rest for a moment. Jack slowly pulled his eyes away from her pulsating body to look out at his new environment, and instantly wished that he hadn't.

Some of the dull smoke of despair still hung lightly in the air in the distance. The great, solid, magical reality of the Xiaolin temple was now nothing but a smoky pile of stone, wood, and plaster at his feet. Now and then, snatches of color, from former, painted columns, or fabric decorations poked through the death gray of the rubble. As he stood still, gaping, the others gradually looked up and gasped at the desecration. It was like the whole building had been leveled by some powerful bomb. For miles around, even to the last extent of the temple property, every building had become one of these dusty heaps. Even the cobblestone road between these buildings had been torn up, and the various gardens and outdoor training facilities were no where in sight.

A terrible silence fell over the four of them, and Kimiko reached down to pick up one blue piece of stone that had once decorated the roof. She rubbed it between her fingers for a moment, before tossing it back into the sea of destruction, despairingly. She just couldn't believe that after all that…training with Omi and the others…spending days together, strolling the garden, swimming, playing games, laughing together…here… Suddenly, it was just all…gone. Just like that. Her life, for the past year and a half…was just gone. Slowly, a small tear made its way down Kimiko's smooth, fair cheek. How could this happen? Feeling guilty and sympathetic, Jack stepped next to her and gently wrapped her in a hug.

Clay had similar feelings to Kimiko…he'd worked so hard to remain here at the temple, where he could be free and do whatever he wanted with his friends… Sure, living on his ranch in Texas was fun, but it got a little boring every now and then, and there were never any other people around, except for his family. The Xiaolin Temple had been a wonderful, mystical place of escape. How could it be destroyed just like that?

Meanwhile, in his corner, a cold dread feeling passed through Raimundo's body. Wuya, and that new witch, Shésui had just destroyed the temple and blown it to bits…that was exactly what Wuya would have done that time before…and he would've helped to destroy it. For a moment, he shared in Jack's feelings of guilt. This is what he had been doing when he betrayed the temple. Now, he couldn't believe that he'd done something this foolish so easily, and thinking he was justified… Rai shook his head and turned away from the temple's strewn body parts. That was in the past. He shouldn't be thinking about that now. Instead, he should be thinking about…

"My fellow Xiaolin Warriors!" Suddenly, they could see a small blue blob moving towards them amongst the multicolored temple pieces. As it drew closer, they noticed the yellow splotches mixed in with the blue, and for a moment they all felt strangely relieved.

"Omi!" Rai called, stepping up to meet him. "Where have you been? You didn't try to fight those witches all by yourself, did you?"

"No, no," Omi quickly told him, slowing to a stop in front of him. "They were already gone by the time I got out. But I have found the others…Dojo, and Master Fung, and Mistress Marylyn… You've got to come with me now!"

Kimiko gently lifted her head from Jack's chest when she heard Omi's little chirping voice. Like the birds twittering after a thunderstorm, he held a sort of commanding hope within his voice. Was that right? They were alive? That was what he'd just said, right?

"Where are they?" Rai urgently asked, looking around, pretending not to notice the rubble.

For a brief moment, Omi glanced over at Jack, a resentful look crossing his face, but quickly turned back. "Near the edge where the shed used to be," he answered Rai instead. "Follow me!" Omi moved with swiftness and agility over the torn pieces of the temple, but the other four, who'd had more time to ponder its existence carefully treaded after him.

Clay strode a bit ahead of Kimiko, Jack, and Rai, accurately stepping in the least desecrated areas and making sure he didn't lose sight of Omi. Kimiko shivered as she gazed over the leveled site and wondered how anyone could've survived this…but then again, she and her friends had. At last, Omi's head, which was all they could see of him now, parked itself near one small slab of a wall that was still standing. The closer they came to it, the more they began to see… A large group of men standing just on the other side of the monument, their crowd poking out from behind it.

"You are poking very slowly," Omi said in impatience when his fellow warriors finally caught up.

"Nah, we're slowpokes," Rai corrected, coming to a halt behind Clay and staring past him, towards the wall. "But really, can you blame us?"

In his mad dash to make sure everyone was okay and save the remnants of the temple, Omi hadn't got a long moment to truly look at the destruction around him, and now, as Rai's words echoed in his head and they gently inched closer to the pathetic shelter, he saw it for the first time. Just like that…his home…his life…was gone. Although his parents had died long before he was born, and he'd never felt lonely before, Omi suddenly felt he knew what it meant to be a true orphan.

Just before they reached the edge of the remaining wall, a pair of familiar figures stepped out of the sea of old monks, and the sight was a comfort to all of them. Marylyn Orre was the first to appear, standing tall and upright, her long, bright orange hair waving in the wind behind her, like a blaze of hope. Suddenly, for the first time in his life, Jack felt proud to have her hair color. Behind her, Master Fung gently stepped up to the burnt ground on the other side, his hands in his sleeves and Dojo entwined around his neck. The three of them looked over and stared at their shapes against the grayness of the temple debris.

It took a moment to recognize each other as being truly alive and well, but when the Xiaolin Warriors finally did, they rushed towards their caretakers in jubilant relief. Even Omi, who'd already known about Dojo, Master Fung, and Marylyn's survival, was scrambling towards them with his fellow Xiaolin Warriors. Surprisingly, Master Fung, who normally showed no signs of emotion or unjust favor to any of the monks, scooped little Omi up into his arms. It was only natural. He had raised this boy all by himself, and although he knew it was wrong, he felt that this boy was his son, and he didn't know what he would've done if he'd been killed.

Marylyn scooped Jack into her arms in a similar fashion, but since he was too big to pick up and cuddle, he just remained squished against her body, struggling for air. "Oh, my Jackie! My dear boy! I'm so happy you're okay! For a moment I thought I'd lost you forever! Oh, I couldn't bear to live with myself if that'd happened! I know! I'll protect you from now on! I won't let you out of my sight! I'm never going to leave you by yourself again!"

"Uh…Mom…" Jack croaked from underneath her arm. "I know you're really grateful and relieved, and I'm really grateful and relieved too, but…thanks, but no thanks." _I should be careful what I wish for,_ he realized, remembering how he'd wished for a constant companion when Shésui had warped his thoughts to be sympathetic to Wuya.

At last, when Master Fung broke away from Omi, he welcomed Kimiko, then Raimundo, and then Clay into his arms as well.

"Hey, hey, what's this?" a familiar, complaining voice rose from the ground near where Omi was staring up at the hugging. "What, no love for the old, green guy? I spend this whole 1/750 of my life looking after you and flying you around the world, and this is the thanks I get? I could have died just now, you know!"

Omi reached down and squished the little dragon into a tight, fond hug. "Oh, thank you Dojo! I am most grateful and happy that you are still alive. I would hate for you to die at such a young age."

"Yeah," Dojo agreed, slithering out from under Omi's arms and resting on top of his head. "I am only 1500 years old…no, wait…I think I'm 1501 now…or is it 1502? Gah, I just stopped counting when I turned 1000."

Finally, after a few minutes and all the emotional hugging and greetings were over, a strange and uncomfortable silence fell over the group. "Master Fung?" Clay nervously asked, stepping forward to ask a very serious question. "Did…did everyone make it out okay?"

"Yes, mostly everyone," Master Fung answered, looking past the cowboy and out into the sea of death in front of him. "Some of our older members did not make it out in time. I plan to keep and preserve this portion of the retirement ward and consecrate it in their memory."

Omi, maddened by the thought of temple members dying in the attack, forcefully pointed at Jack and yelled, accusingly, "_He _did this!"

There was yet another moment of confused, shocked silence, Master Fung and Marylyn shocked that Jack would suddenly do something this evil again, and Kimiko, Clay, and Rai shocked that Omi would say something like this when he didn't even know what happened.

"…J…Jackie? …honey?" Marylyn slowly asked again, staring at her very frustrated and embarrassed son. "Did you really…?"

"No," he replied through gritted teeth. "Well, I did release Wuya from the Soul Scepter. I'm the only one who can, so it should be obvious that I released her…but, it wasn't my fault."

"And _how _is that not your fault?" Omi objected, crossing his arms, superiorly. "If you released her, then it's your fault. Unless someone forced you to do it…"

"Shésui…she…she put these ideas into my head… Now that I realize that she was a witch, I realize what she was doing to me…tricking me into thinking Wuya was my friend and that I should bring her back to be with me…"

"Well, you should have resisted them!" Omi barked. "Are you that easily swayed? Have Master Fung and I taught you nothing about focus and inner stability?"

"Yes…" Jack admitted, staring at the dull, smoky ground and wondering what would happen to him now. "You've taught me plenty. I just…didn't know…"

"It's not his fault!" Kimiko yelled, running up and hugging him to defend him for the first time in several weeks. "He was acting under that witch's influence. I think she was even using magic!"

"It doesn't matter if she was using magic or not!" Omi snapped back. "He should have been able to repel a simple mind-controlling spell, especially with his Silver Shield ability!"

"No, no," Master Fung at last spoke on this subject, turning to look into the panicked, worried expression twisting Jack's face. "Shésui could have very well and have easily tricked him. I know that. It's more my fault than anyone else's." At this, he turned away and hid his long, stony face in the shadow of one of his hands, resting it against his forehead. "I should have known. I know very well about the properties of the separations and incumbent powers of the Xiaolin Warriors…there cannot possibly be a Dragon of Ice. And I should have seen that the forbidden evil powers I was feeling were that of Shésui, the shape-shifting snake master of the Heylin clan, and bender of spirits."

"Bender of spirits?" Omi asked, at last giving up on his second Jack interrogation.

"Yes. She can bend the will and properties of spirits using her abilities…separate spirits from body, and put them back together again, as well as draw a spirit out from anywhere…or to amplify pieces of a spirit's composition."

"…That's what she did with Jack," Kimiko realized. "Bent his spirit and brought out the part of his life he spent with Wuya, believing that she was his friend."

"Possibly," Master Fung said, gravely. "But I really should have detected her evil presence and know of the falsification of a sixth Xiaolin Dragon."

"Fung, don't lay so much of the blame on yourself," Marylyn gently comforted, reaching over to carry the guilt. "It was partly my fault too. I never suspected…" The Xiaolin Warriors stared in awe as Marylyn continued to prattle on. Never before had they seen Master Fung so distressed and lost for words…except perhaps for when Wuya had temporarily taken control of China.

"The Shen-Gong-Wu…" he at last spoke again, turning from his personal suffering. "…are they safe?"

Omi pulled the Orb of Tornami from somewhere inside his temple robes. Kimiko produced the Star Hanabi from an unseen pocket, and Clay and Rai did the same with the Fist of Tebigong and the Sword of the Storm.

"That's it?" Marylyn asked, raising her eyebrows a bit. "I thought we had more Shen-Gong-Wu that _that_."

"Yeah," Dojo agreed. "What happened to the Mantis Flip Coin? The Two-Ton Tunic? The Eye of Dashi? The Third Arm Sash? The Tangle Web Comb? The Golden Tiger Claws? The Shroud of Shadows? The…?"

"Oh no!" Jack suddenly realized. "I left the Soul Scepter under that rock in the vault! And it's covered under the rubble from the steps of the vault, and the ceiling, along with all the other Shen-Gong-Wu in it! They're all buried in the ruin of the temple! And…I think I also left my Element Orbs down in my room…they're probably buried too! They probably shattered, and now I'll never get my powers! All of my robots have probably been destroyed! My…powers…my…Shen-Gong-Wu…my…_robots_!" Promptly, Jack began to cry for his machines, and the others rolled their eyes at him.

"You can always make new robots," Rai reasoned. "But we can't make new Shen-Gong-Wu! C'mon, guys, we've got to go dig them out!" He hastily turned to sprint back over the strewn guts of the Xiaolin Temple before Marylyn Orre called out to stop him.

"Just hold on a minute!" she yelled. "Just what are you planning to dig them out with?"

"Our elements!" Rai insisted, turning around to snap back at her. "We can still use our element powers, in combination with our Shen-Gong-Wu and our Element Orb powers! We're full-fledged Xiaolin Dragons with increased magical ability! A little rubble is nothing to us!"

Kimiko, Omi, and Clay seemed to be nodding and agreeing with him while Jack sniveled and gazed helplessly up at them. Master Fung easily and commandingly held out a hand, suddenly recovered from his spell of distress. "No. Calm yourself, Raimundo. It is getting much too late to excavate the ruins."

For the first time, the others noticed the dark sky above them, twinkling with stars, and the steady glow of a half-moon. The cool night air nipped at their clothing, and when they looked down, they noticed that they had de-transformed into their pajamas. "Master Fung's right," Kimiko agreed, shivering in her yellow flowered nightgown. "We can't start searching through all that wreckage this late at night…and especially in these clothes."

"But…my clothes were all in my room!" Rai frantically cried, pulling at his blank white tee-shirt and baggy pajama pants. "They're probably all torn up and destroyed!"

"_Augh_!" Kimiko shrieked when she realized this for the first time. "I had expensive designer outfits in there!"

"Now, now, no need to fuss," Master Fung reassured them. "You can all just camp out behind the wall for the night and we'll search through the debris early tomorrow morning. I'm sure you'll find all of your things unharmed."

"What are we going to wear tomorrow?" Rai insisted. "We can't search through it in this stuff."

Master Fung smiled, mysteriously. "I've got a few extra Xiaolin robes for those of you who need something to wear tomorrow."

_Phew,_ Jack thought as he stood up and brushed his chained jeans off. _I'm glad I hadn't changed into my pajamas yet._

The four Xiaolin Warriors begrudgingly took the folded clothing from their master's arms and began to trek to the back of the wall monument near the crowd of old former temple residents.

"Master Fung…" Omi worriedly asked, clutching his replacement uniform to his chest over his white-and-blue nighttime one. "…What about Wuya and Shésui? They're bound to launch another attack as soon as they learn that we're not really dead…"

"Aw, don't worry about that for now, 'lil buddy," Clay tried to comfort him, placing his large, strong hand over his small, round shoulder. "Them two witches are probably still fightin' with each other out in the fields right about now."

"Either that…" Master Fung gravely replied. "Or they're waiting for something. Wuya could have easily resurrected her empire in the blink of an eye after she was returned to her body. I'm not sure of what kind of physical-affecting abilities Shésui possesses, but I'm sure they are equally terrifying."

"But don't worry," Marylyn added, as Master Fung began to go off into a deep-thinking trance. "We'll be up all night to guard this section, and if we spot anything we'll wake you up immediately. I don't think they'll come back here, since as Clay said, they're probably still fighting, or waiting for an appropriate moment to strike."

Omi took a deep breath. "Okay. Just please…let no more harm come to this temple or my friends. I cannot bear to live through something else's destruction." Finally, he turned to follow Kimiko, Rai, Jack, and Clay to a small alcove near the remaining wall where Dojo had already started a small campfire.

Magically, he produced a plate of s'mores and five sleeping bags from out of nowhere. For the rest of the night, they sat around the mini-campfire eating the gooey confections, and if it weren't for the destruction and the imminent doom around them, they would've had a good time.

"This feels a lot like the time Mala Mala Jong attacked the temple," Kimiko commented. "Except Rai and Jack are here."

"_Now _what are we going to do?" Rai asked in despair, tossing bits of his graham cracker into the flame.

"Oooh, ooh! I know!" Dojo excitedly said, popping up in front of him. "Let's tell ghost stories!"

"Don't push it," Kimiko warned him.

A few minutes later, they were all too worn out to continue this unintentional campout and curled up in their sleeping bags to get some rest. Dojo curled himself on top of Omi's head and hung there, impersonating a snaky green hairdo. Soon they fell into a deep slumber and even the next few events wouldn't be enough to wake them.

(-)

Among the dark, foreboding debris of the Xiaolin Temple, a piece of material glistened in the glowing moonlight, poking itself to the top of the heap. Gently, almost naturally, the planks and litter of the large shipwreck rumbled and collapsed around the object. The round globe caught the faraway light of the moon and the numerous stars, creating a smooth white highlight around it. Just then, the gloss around its sides grew and spread, until the whole globe glowed from the shining plank deep within.

Like a ghostly wisp, some opaque shadow blinked into existence right alongside it. The outline of this form seemed small and helpless and for a moment it huddled in the temple pieces, pulling its legs against its small trunk. Then, finally, it uncurled itself and got a good look at its surroundings. Standing up, the figure finally caught the moonlight and revealed itself to anyone who might be looking in its direction. His large, round red eyes scanned the rubble against his small, shiny black shoes. The clay slats seemed to convince him of something, and he lifted his head to the sky, his deep orange hair flopping into his eyes. Frustratingly, he flung the annoying, tickling bangs off his forehead and stared at the rubble in disbelief again. Finally, some fabricated conclusion sunk into his brain and a delighted smile crept onto his face.

"…_Yippee_! _Wooohooo_! It's gone! Gone, gone, gone, gone! Gone forever! Demolished! Destroyed! Desecrated! Every other violent D word you can think of! Yeah! Yeah, woooooo! Let's celebrate, Three!"

Suddenly, the boy's jubilant demeanor faded away, and he turned to glance around him, worriedly. "…Three?" he asked, blinking his big ruby eyes. "Three!" When there was still no answer, the young boy stepped forward a few paces and put his hands to the sides of his mouth. "Three!" he called. "Three, where are you? Three! One! Two! Are you okay?" Urgently, he broke into a sprint over the crackling planks and pieces of clay, plaster, and glass, ignoring their breaking underneath his heavy dress shoes. "ONE! TWO! THREE!" he yelled as loud as his little lungs would allow, and tears began to well up on the edges of his eyes. "…One? Two? Three? …Daddy? Anybody?"

"Heh, heh, heh," a low, spiteful laugh reverberated down at him. "They're not here. Don't you know, those useless stepping stones were destroyed…and your Daddy's on the other side of town."

The child jerked his head upwards to see a dark, shadowy person descending from above. He was tall and sinister, draped in a ripped black cloak. Metal boots rimmed with spikes were on his feet, but the rest of his dark attire was invisible in this low light. However, the moon and stars provided enough light to outline the shoulder-pads of his outfit, a pair of human skulls, and his white painted face, blazing red hair and spiky, wiry band around his forehead.

"Wh-Who are you?" the boy stuttered, trying to step backwards and stumbling over an obtruding piece of wall siding. "Wh-what do you want? What did you do with Three and the others?"

"Pah," the young man blew off. "Number Three. Number Three was such an insignificant little scrap heap, I destroyed him even before this era was truly set. Forget Number Three…let me introduce you to Number Three Hundred! …and his cronies."

Large, hulking heaps of metal arose out of the horizon of destruction before him. They shone brilliantly in the evening light, and that was the first aspect of their advancement that placed awe and terror into the boy's heart. The second was the reflection of the moonlight off their silvery sharp saw blades, whirring on either side of them. The boy twitched in recognition. This must be the first model…purposely designed to kill. At first he wondered just who or what had got a hold of his designs and done this to him, until he realized exactly who that shadowy person was, and why he was here.

At the command of their master, the highly intelligent and advanced robots flew at lightning speed towards him…to go any faster they'd have to be holding the Shard of Lightning. Amazingly, the boy managed to jump and avoid their whirling blades or flatten himself against the littered ground to avoid their blows. Once, when he ducked down, he scooped the mysterious, glass orb into his small arms and turned as fast as he could to sprint into the distance. The robots followed, along with their master, whose jetpack enabled him to keep up with their every move. The deadly machines zoomed up behind the boy, and he realized that his desperate attempt at flight was useless. His small, short legs would never be able to outrun a pack of rocket-fueled robots. One of them jumped in front of him and screeched him to a halt. It shot several deadly blasts towards him, and he carefully dodged every one before continuing towards that comforting-looking monument in the distance.

Tears streamed from his closed eyes as he sped straight ahead to find his way out. _Why_? He wondered for a pensive, peaceful moment, but then as the images danced inside his head, he realized just what he was now, and what his purpose for being here really was. He had to tip the scales again…it was his duty as guardian of this magic…the magic he held fast against his chest in its round, glass container.

The boy couldn't slow his pumping legs and continued straight, even as his pursuer gave up for tonight and turned back into the shadows and even as a pair of legendary temple guardians called out for him to halt in the name of the Xiaolin Temple. Suddenly, he felt his shoe tighten around his little foot, uncomfortably, and something soft squish underneath it. His small body was whooshing forward, adrenaline panic racing through him in anticipation. A squeaky scream shot through the campsite, followed by an older, feminine shout.

"Augh!" Kimiko shrieked, shooting up in her sleeping bag again. "No! No, not again! What _was_ that?" This was the second time this evening she'd been interrupted by some outside force, and she was panicking, thinking it was another attack by the Heylin witches.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Miss," a little voice chirped at her side and as her eyes focused, she could see the small shape of a child pulling itself up in the darkness. "I just wasn't looking where I was going. Please don't hurt me!"

"Oh…h-hello…" Kimiko replied, calming her nerves. "I'm not going to hurt you…are you…?" At these words, she froze and gazed up at the shaking boy standing over her. Somehow, he looked a bit familiar, but she was too tired to figure out where she might have seen him before. "You're…you're that kid I met in the temple that night!" she cried, recognized the outline and the little quavering voice. "It's good to see that you're still alright after that attack. Do you want me to help you find your way home?"

Promptly, the little boy shook his head. "No, no, I know where I am now. Thank you anyway…was it Kimiko?"

Kimiko smiled thinly and nodded her frazzled bed-head. "I thought you were a ghost that night," she told him. "So…did you want to stay with us?"

"…Us?" the boy asked, and then he glanced around and noticed the four other sleeping bags surrounding them. "Um…I guess…" he nervously replied, lowering his voice to whisper. "Are you guys…the Xiaolin Warriors?"

"Yup," Kimiko answered, bluntly. "We're good people; we want to help save the world…even though it looks like we're not doing a very good job of it."

"Shh," the boy hissed and leaned closer towards her. "If you want to save the world, you'll have to listen to me, because I hold the key to saving it…I just figured it out, but I'm really…"

"Hey, Kim, who're ya talkin' to?" the slightly fuzzy, bored drawl of Raimundo spoke up from his corner of the campsite.

"Oh, just the ghost kid from the corridor last night," Kimiko casually responded.

"_What_?" Rai cried, and the boy angrily turned around to silence him. By then it was already too late and Omi and Clay were slowly awakening as well.

"Huh?" Omi slowly asked, rubbing his slit eyes, groggily. "What's going on?"

"Hey, who's that little fella ya got with ya, Kimiko?" Clay asked, smiling pleasantly at the boy. Jack, whose sleeping bag was a bit further away from the others' remained in a deep sleep, softly snoring in the background.

"_This _is your ghost boy?" Rai teased, trying hard to keep in his laughter. "Doesn't look too threatening to me."

"Aw, he's so small," Omi ironically commented. "I believe I am taller than him!" The little monk stood up and separated himself from his sleeping bag to step up beside the little red-haired boy. "Yes, yes I am!" he triumphantly called, measuring from the top of his round head with his hand. The boy frowned and gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Okay, just leave him alone," Kimiko said, standing up and waving Omi away. "I think he has something important to tell us."

"What's that in 'is hands?" Clay spoke up, the first one to notice the smooth glass orb tucked in the boy's small hands.

"It looks like an Element Orb," Rai said, his green eyes widening a bit as he got a better look at the object.

"It looks like one of the Metal Orbs!" Omi clarified in excitement. "Did you find that for us? Thank you very much, honorable little stranger!"

No one listened to Kimiko, and at last Rai asked a question that the mysterious boy could answer and get them to listen. "So, what's your name, kid?" Rai gently asked, moving a little closer in wonder at the suddenly revealed "ghost boy".

Finally, a small, simple smile twisted the boy's lips up and his large ruby eyes twinkled at them, suspiciously. "Jack Spicer," he said.

A befuddled, uneasy silence followed, in which only the snoring of that very same person could be heard in the background. "Y-You must be confused," Omi gently comforted, patting the boy's fluffy orange head. "Jack Spicer is over there, sleeping. I can see how you might be delirious after wandering around the temple for so long and then having it collapse around you."

"Jack Spicer," the little boy repeated, as if they hadn't heard the first time. "That's my name."

Kimiko gently knelt down next to the boy, and asked, in an amazed whisper. "H-How old are you, um…Jack?"

"I'm seven," he answered, his little chirpy voice brightening in recognition of his triumph. Everyone froze again, and the snoring of the other Jack came through again.

Kimiko quickly covered the little boy with her sleeping bag so Jack wouldn't see him if he woke up. Suddenly, she recognized this boy…he looked exactly the same as a boy in a photograph that he had shown her…and told her it was him when he was a young child. "Wh-What happened?" she frantically asked, smothering him in her sleeping bag. "Did you come through a time machine from the past? Then, this must be the future to you…"

"Well, welcome to the future, Jack Spicer's former self!" Omi cheerfully greeted.

"Mmmmf!" little Jack cried from beneath the hot fabric of the sleeping bag. Kimiko finally pulled it off and let his appearance out again. Jack seemed to still be fast asleep, and besides, she wasn't really sure if anything bad would happen if he met his past self. "You didn't give me enough time to explain!" the boy's little voice squeaked at them. "I'm _not_ Jack's past self, and I need your help to save the world!"

Once again, silence fell over the four Xiaolin Warriors, as they tried to process this in their minds. "But if you're _not_ Jack from the past…why do you have the same name as him?" Clay asked, scratching his blond head.

"And why do you look exactly like him when he was seven?" Kimiko insisted.

"Because I have the same mentality," the strange, puzzling boy tried to explain. "I have the same memories, appearance, and presence as Jack at seven years old…I _am_ him, in a manner of speaking. But I'm not. I didn't come through a time machine. I am the yang, the embodiment of the goodness in Jack, so I take the form and identity of his innocent childhood."

The four Xiaolin Warriors stared, incredulously at the creature in front of them, who, in his young, squeaky voice had just recited this complicated explanation to them. "Pleased to meet you!" he concluded, giving them all a friendly and extremely cute smile.

"So that Metal Orb…" Omi tried to further investigate the situation. "…Is that the good Metal Orb…the yang one?"

Little Jack nodded, at last starting to calm down and get the hang of things. "This is where I come from. Whenever he goes to sleep, his spirit passes through the orbs and gets separated. I am the piece that this orb separates out."

Nervously, the Xiaolin Warriors looked at themselves, and then back at the strange boy. "So…um…since you're the embodiment of Jack's yang essence, through the yang Metal Orb…" Omi reluctantly theorized. "…Does that mean there's a yin one, too?"

"Of course," little Yang Jack replied, matter-of-factly. "There can't be a yang without a yin, and vice versa. I don't know where Yin Jack went…he was chasing me just a while ago…"

The four of them nervously exchanged glances. As if they didn't have enough to deal with, now they also had a purely evil version of Jack Spicer on the loose somewhere around the destroyed temple. Little Omi gulped and swiveled his globe-like head towards the ground. "Perhaps…_this_ is what they were waiting for…"

"Huh?" Rai questioned, lifting his tan face, a puzzled expression squeezed onto it.

"Them Heylin witches…" Clay realized, since he'd been standing beside Omi when he'd had that conversation with Master Fung and Marylyn. "They mighta been waitin' for us to go to sleep, so Jack would separate and they'd get his evil side."

"But why would they _want_ Yin Jack?" Kimiko asked, raising her arching, Asian eyebrows. "Jack's really not _evil_, even when he was, he was just frustrated and following examples…how evil can his evil side really be?"

There was another pause in the conversation, and Omi frowned, seriously, to himself. "Well, the more goodness a good side contains, the more evil an evil side must contain, in order to balance the alignment."

"Put it this way…" Clay tried to explain. "Yin Jack's probably as evil and malicious as this 'lil guy is cute and innocent."

Yang Jack smiled again, and Kimiko couldn't help it anymore and squeezed him into a tight hug, pulling him off the ground. "Aww, you're just sooooo adorable!" she exclaimed.

"…Which would be _pretty _evil…" Rai added. Something struck him, and he sat up straighter. "Hey…that other night…it might've been Yin Jack I saw in the vault!"

"Probably," Kimiko told him, letting the little boy breathe again. "Since I saw _him_ in the hallways another night."

Yang Jack gasped and wheezed for a few moments, before turning back towards the Xiaolin Warriors to explain something further. "There's something else…because the Orbs have been unleashed the scale of yin-yang has again been tipped towards the yin side, and I need to find and activate the twenty-five…"

Just at that moment, a resounding gong vibrated through the area, and from the mystifying twilight settling over them, they knew that it was morning and Master Fung was probably waking up the temple members so they could start searching through the wreckage. He had such rotten timing. Gently and gradually, Yang Jack began to fade away. He stopped mid-sentence and looked through his transparent arms.

"The twenty-five _what?_" Omi demanded, hating to be left in suspense.

The little redheaded boy opened his mouth and tried to speak, but his voice was already gone, and quickly, his whole body was vanishing. At last, his head dissolved into the atmosphere, and the Metal Orb he'd been holding clinked against the ground, yet remained unharmed.

Rai, Kimiko, Omi, and Clay stared at each other in panic and suspense. There was something they needed to do…but what was that! He needed to activate twenty-five unknown objects… Simultaneously, they all turned their heads towards the lumpy black sleeping bag sitting furthest away from the campfire.

"Ugh…huh? Is it time to get up already?" the familiar groggy voice spoke up, and a few seconds later, Jack was sitting up, rubbing his eyes and trying to clear his fuzzy head.

"No!" Rai shot at him, desperately trying to push him back into his sleeping bag. "Go back to sleep, please!"

"No, no, that might not be a good idea," Kimiko warned him. "He'll appear again, but so will _he_, and we're not prepared to fight him right now."

"But doesn't his soul separate itself through the Orbs?" Rai argued. "Yang Jack will appear here, and Yin Jack will appear wherever the Yin Orb is."

"I just don't want to take the chance," Kimiko told him. "So we'll have to go without knowing for now."

Jack blinked his wide, surprised eyes up at them from below Rai's hands. What were they trying to do to him?

"Perhaps he still knows!" Omi decided, and hopped over Kimiko and Rai to grab the collar of Jack's sweatshirt and keep him pinned to the ground. "Twenty-five _what_?" he again demanded, staring closely into his eyes.

Jack began to shake under Omi's glare. "Uh…I never said anything about twenty-five anything. I don't know what twenty-five you're talking about…"

"What twenty-five things do you need to activate?" he specified, and continued his deep glare.

"…I-I don't know…" Jack answered, stuttering uneasily. "I think there m-might've been a few robots before…but then there were only about th-three that I needed to activate…"

"Give up, Omi," Clay said, lifting the little bald monk from his adamant perch on top of Jack's body. "He don't remember anythin'."

"_What_?" As soon as both Omi and Rai had released him, Jack flew to his feet and confronted them, for the moment, not caring that he wasn't wearing shoes and that his hair was puffy and unkempt. "What are you all talking about? Did something happen last night while I was sleeping?"

"In a manner of speaking…yes," Rai told him. "Oh, and…here's your Element Orb, take good care of it." He plopped the yang Metal Orb into Jack's arms, tired of holding it up so long.

"But where's the other one?" Jack asked, looking around and searching the ground around their campsite with his eyes.

"That's the only one you're getting," Rai replied, staring gravely into his face.

"Did…did the other one get crushed?" he asked, nervously.

"No," Omi said. "But we _reeeeeaaly_ wish it had."

Jack opened his mouth, but before he could ask another question, Master Fung and Marylyn Orre appeared in front of them, holding piles of shovels. "Good morning, my Xiaolin Dragons…and Apprentice," Master Fung greeted them. Jack frowned and crossed his arms, being the only Apprentice. "Once you get changed, we can begin the excavation of the Shen-Gong-Wu."

Kimiko, Clay, and Rai all sighed and picked up their folded temporary Xiaolin robes, brushed the dirt off them, and scuffled off to find trees to change behind. Omi picked up his as well, but looked up at Master Fung, worriedly. "Master Fung…" he questioningly began again. "What if some of the Shen-Gong-Wu were broken in the destruction?" he asked.

"There are ways of fixing them," Master Fung comfortingly answered. "Kimiko repaired the Mosaic Scale, didn't she? If we find the Rag of Resurrection intact, we can use that to repair any other broken Shen-Gong-Wu. Besides, if they were in their slots, I'm sure they were okay. It takes much concentration and magical strength to destroy a Shen-Gong-Wu."

"Yeah," the voice of a familiar lizard spoke up, and Dojo groggily crawled out from the disturbed folds of Omi's sleeping bag. "Dashi originally intended for the Shen-Gong-Wu to be indestructible…but some of the later ones were a little rushed, I think…" He paused to yawn, loudly and blink his red eyelids. "Ugh…is it morning already? I feel like I just went to bed."

"Don't you worry about it, dearie," Marylyn assured the little monk. "You just go get changed with the others. You wouldn't want to get all dirty in those white things."

Omi nodded, gravely and walked off to find another tree as well. In his anxiety about the state of the magical objects, he didn't even think to tell Marylyn and Master Fung about what they had seen last night, but it was still whirling around in the minds of his fellow Xiaolin Dragons.

"Well," Masrylyn again spoke up, turning cheerfully to her reluctant company. "Why don't we get a head start while we're waiting for the others to finish changing?"

Jack frowned again as he finished snapping his boots on. "Do I have to?" he whined. "They'll be back in two shakes. I don't really feel like going digging without even having breakfast or…"

With that, Master Fung thrust a shovel out and into his arms. "It would do you good, Jack," he gravely stated. "You need to focus to see things clearly. This is the only way you can ever move to a higher level…"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Jack grudgingly accepted and swung the shovel out in front of him. "Don't see why I have to do extra work, just because I was ready before everyone else…" he muttered to himself as he turned to walk off. "Stupid imposter witch, making me think things and making me look bad; now none of them will ever trust me…already they're hiding things from me by not telling me what happened last night…"

"I'll come too." Marylyn firmly decided, turning around and calling over to him. "We have a few things to talk about." She placed the shovels in her arms on the ground, took one from the pile, and strode, confidently after her son.

"Mmm," Dojo mumbled, curling back up on top of Omi's sleeping bag. "Now I get a few more minutes' rest…"

"You too, Dojo Kanojo Cho," Master Fung insisted, holding out another shovel.

"_Me_?" Dojo asked, opening his eyes and lifting his snaky neck. "Why do _I _have to go dig for Shen-Gong-Wu? I'm not the one who needs mental training…"

"You _were _the temple guardian," Master Fung explained. "And I did not see much temple guarding going on that night."

Dojo sighed in defeat and grew to forty feet, altering his appearance to show his true form. He picked up the shovel, which suddenly seemed much smaller in his monstrous, scaly hand and flew off after the disgruntled Spicers.

Master Fung smiled a bit to himself, before moving on and administering shovels to the other members of his former temple. Dojo was 1,502, about middle-age for a dragon like him, yet he still made childlike mistakes. Age could not be determined by numbers alone.

(-)

"Found it!" Rai called, yanking one long, flat object from the gray monotony of the ground cavity below him. "One Reversing Mirror coming right up."

"Well that's good," Kimiko commented, digging the wedge of her shovel into the debris ground beneath her and leaning her arms against the wooden handle to take a break. "At least we know they didn't take _that_ with them. I just hope we have the other powerful Wu with us. Have you found the Emperor Scorpion yet?"

"No," Rai despondently admitted. "Just one question- if the witches had the Emperor Scorpion, does that mean we wouldn't be able to use our Element Orb attacks against them as well?"

"Well, we probably could, but we wouldn't be able to complete the whole attack. It'd be like we didn't have our token Wu," Kimiko tried to explain.

Omi promptly hopped to Kimiko's side and held a hand out towards her. "Did you need me to take over your shoveling duties, Kimiko? I know you must be getting tired with those delicate female arms."

"I am _not _getting tired!" she angrily objected, snatching her shovel from the wreckage, and resisting a terrible urge to whack him over the head with it. "I was simply taking a two-second break!"

Meanwhile, in the distance, Clay was serenely shoveling through the pile of debris when he happened upon a familiar, silvery piece of cloth. Gently, he freed it from the thick pieces of rock it was wedged between. "Hey, look, y'all," he announced in victory, waving the cloth. "It's the Rag of Resurrection!"

"Good," Kimiko called over to him from her position. "Now we don't have to worry if anyone gets _hurt_." She cast a deliberate glance in Omi's direction. Thankfully, Omi didn't seem to notice, shoveling purposefully through the saddening rubble.

"I've got it!" another all-too-familiar voice cried a bit further away. The four Xiaolin Dragons turned their heads to see Jack Spicer smiling broadly and holding up a certain golden rod. "And it didn't get cracked or anything. These Shen-Gong-Wu are certainly very durable."

In an instant, Omi catapulted himself to his side, reaching up and snatching the Soul Scepter from his pale hands.

"Hey, what gives?" Jack complained, glaring down at the bald child at his side.

Omi carefully balanced the powerful Shen-Gong-Wu over his little arms. "Due to the present, unpredictable circumstances, we cannot allow you to touch this object until we are completely sure that you won't use it…"

"So that's it!" Jack cried, throwing up his shovel his exasperation. "I knew it! You don't trust me! After all I've been through trying to prove to you that I'm trustworthy… Why don't you tell me anything?"

"Jack…" Kimiko tried to calm him by stepping up on his side. "You have to understand…we were enemies for a long time…and you used that scepter to release Wuya again. I know Shelly…er, Shésui was urging you and trying to cast her spell over you, but you were weak enough to let her. We're afraid to let you know what's really happening because you could lose your mind and end up on the dark side again…and we don't want that."

"I just don't understand…" Jack muttered, shoving his shovel, forcefully into the ground. "I don't want to hurt you anymore. I would do anything to protect you guys from harm…even though I…helped destroy the temple. I really didn't want it to be destroyed. …You know that, right?" Slowly, his face was scrunching up as he became more distressed, and when he turned to face his new-old girlfriend, he looked close to tears.

"Yes, I know that now," Kimiko soothingly told him, placing one slim hand on his shoulder. She glanced back at Omi, running up to Dojo, Clay, and Rai to deposit the Soul Scepter with the other Shen-Gong-Wu. "…And I think they know it too, deep in their hearts. Right now you're going through a major change. That's what happens just before you gain your full powers. And there are two sides of you battling each other for complete control…even though you can't feel it."

Jack blinked, his constrained expression evaporating. "Well…whatever you say. I just hope whatever's happening to me isn't that bad."

Kimiko nodded. "We all do." At last, she released his shoulder and returned to her shoveling duties.

Jack walked off, a little bit further into the rubble, after making sure no one was watching him, and began to dig over the spot that used to be his robot lab. After a few strenuous hours of shoving aside pieces of plaster, wood, and dirt, and collecting body parts of former Jack-bots, he at last came to a scrap of opaque purple material. A little further digging revealed the entire head portion of the Wuya II, its swirling red eyes goring into him, as if teasing him somehow. Promptly, Jack smashed the broken robot against a pointy rock on his right and continued recovering his Jack-bot pieces. So much for technological advancement.

(-)

Another two hours later, Dojo had rounded up all of his tired Xiaolin Dragons, shovels, and his own achy limbs, and was reading off a long list of all the Shen-Gong-Wu they possessed. "…Sphere of Yun? Check. Woozy Shooter? Check. Fountain of Hui? Check. Shen Garoo? Check. Yin and Yang Yo-Yo's? Check. Soul Scepter? Check. Vase of Viscous Visions? Check. Rag of Resurrection? Check. Harp of Harmonies? Check. Wu Jin Duraflex? No, wait, that idiot Bob still has it. Scratch that. Instance Eraser? Check. Biao Lu Basin?"

At last, Dojo paused when he looked up from his slip of parchment this time. "…Biao Lu Basin? Where's the Biao Lu Basin?"

"We couldn't find it…" Rai tried to explain, panting like an overheated dog.

"Yeah…we searched everywhere…" Clay confirmed, slumping a bit forward like a blond gorilla in a cowboy costume.

"So that's it," Dojo announced, giving the Shen-Gong-Wu list one last glance-over. "They're all here except the Biao Lu Basin. They must have taken it when you weren't looking."

"But what would Wuya and Shésui want with the Biao Lu Basin?" Kimiko questioned, catching her breath by sitting on the ground in a relaxed posture. "All it can do is reveal true forms."

"Well, it can also reveal origins," Dojo explained, tapping one clawed finger against his snout. "If there is no "true form", per se. You might become a parent, or someone or something you were named after."

"But still, what origins would those witches need to see?" Kimiko questioned. "I still don't understand it."

Omi stood up straighter, upon realizing something amazingly significant. "_Origins?_" he cried. "Dojo…you mean, I could've used that Shen-Gong-Wu to find out who my parents were! Why didn't you tell us that earlier?"

Dojo froze in an uneasy lapse of silence. "I…I didn't think of it," he amazedly spoke up again. "But…you're right! We could finally find out who your parents were…but maybe _that's _why they stole it!"

"What, to prevent Omi from finding out about his parents?" Rai skeptically asked. "What purpose would that serve?"

Dojo seemed to go off into a daze. "Oh…never mind. I'm still not sure myself. C'mon, everyone, we need to report back to Master Fung."

"But I'm too tired," Jack spoke up, for the first time since meeting up with them again. Typical that the first sentence out of his mouth was a complaint. "Let's just sleep here and report back tomorrow…" He slowly dipped down to the left, resting his head against a protruding piece of insulation.

"No, we can't do that," Rai tried to reason. "We'd be sleeping out in the open where Wuya and Shésui would have a clear shot at us if they ever came back to finish us off. We need to get back behind the wall."

Omi, however, who had remembered the morning's events, instantly saw the opportunity. "Yes, yes, go to sleep, Jack. Really, we don't mind!"

"Yeah, you can go to sleep," Kimiko urged, dragging her body up to his side. "Just don't mind us."

On the contrary, Jack sat up again and raised his bushy eyebrows at them. "Why do you all suddenly want me to go to sleep? You must be planning to play some joke on me while I'm asleep. That's what it is."

"Oh, no, no, we wouldn't even _think_ of it," Kimiko dismissed this accusation and for once, it was true.

"You can just stay here and sleep, it's okay," Omi added.

"I know, you're planning on leaving me all alone here to be attacked while you're safe behind the wall, aren't you? Well, I won't let you!" He began to struggle to his feet, but Rai and Clay quickly shoved him back to the ground.

"Of course we wouldn' do a thing like that…anymore…" Clay truthfully tried to persuade him. "You'll be perfectly safe here and we don't plan on goin' anywhere."

"Yeah, man," Rai added, after realizing what Omi and Kimiko were getting on to. "If you're tired, just go ahead and take a rest. We need to stick around here for a little longer and make sure we don't have the Biao Lu Basin anyway."

Looking up into his friends' falsely sincere faces, Jack was finally convinced and turned away from them onto one side. "Okay," he agreed. "But if anything weird happens to me again, I'm holding you responsible."

Clay and Rai released him, watching his breath grow steeper as he moved towards unconsciousness.

"Okay…what are we all waiting around for?" Dojo asked in annoyance and confusion. He hadn't been awake during the conversation between the Xiaolin Warriors and Yang Jack.

"Shhh," Omi whispered to him. "We're waiting for Jack to fall asleep."

Dojo was just about to ask why, when at last, he fell into complete, deep slumber, and a thin wisp of substance began spiraling up from the Element Orb peeking out of his backpack. The Xiaolin Warriors got to their feet and waited for the child to finish materializing. Eventually the small boy blinked into reality in front of them like a picture on a television screen.

"_What the heck_?" Dojo cried, rubbing his wide eyes. "Um…I think I may be having delusions, but…did you just see a little boy appear out of thin air?"

"Yes, I did!" Omi cried in triumph. "Dojo, meet Jack Spicer's yang essence."

"His yang essence?" Dojo asked, scratching his head. "Why…? What…? _How_…?" Rai took him aside to explain it to him, while Omi and Kimiko advanced on the childish figure to question him further.

The little redheaded boy smiled cheerfully at them. "Yay! My friends are back! It's great to see you!"

"It's great to see you too," Omi quickly told him, eager to get to business. "But what were you saying earlier? Something about twenty-five things that you needed to activate…"

"Oh…um…hmmm…" the little miniature Jack mumbled to himself, bringing a short, stubby finger up to the side of his mouth. "Oh, yeah!" he cried, suddenly remembering. "The balance of yin-yang has once again been tipped to the yin side, and I need to find and activate the twenty-five Balance Points to equal the forces out again. …Don't ask me how I know that; I just…do…"

"Balance Points?" Kimiko questioned. "That sounds like something out of a weight loss clinic."

By now, Rai and Clay had finished explaining the circumstance to their guardian dragon, and had turned back to listen in on the conversation. "The Balance Points are several round magical ports that can be activated by a yin or yang entity to help tip the balance of good and evil. Grand Master Dashi created them in order to contain the separation of powers created by the two versions of the Metal Orb. It happened accidentally during the creation of the Element Orbs… Don't ask me how I know that either."

Rai punched one fist into the palm of his other hand in determination. "So we've got to find these Balance Points and have you tip them back towards the yang side before Yin Jack gets here to stop us!" The other Xiaolin Warriors nodded in consent.

"The Balance Points all look like yin-yang symbols that appear on random objects throughout the world," Yang Jack explained. "So we've got to scour the whole earth looking for them. They could be _anywhere_. But at least I can sense where one is located. And the first one is…" The little redheaded boy closed his eyes against his freckled cheeks and concentrated with all his might. "In there!" He thrust one little arm towards the sea of debris around them.

"In the temple rubble?" Rai complained. "But we just finished searching through it… I really don't feel like doing any more digging…" He frowned, remembering his arching arms once again.

"It's okay," the little boy told him, his chirpy voice reassuring. "It's really close! In fact, it's only a few steps away! Follow me!" Just the sight of the tiny boy bustling with energy and hopping joyfully along in front of them seemed to boost their spirits.

Clay, Rai, Kimiko, and Omi walked over the piles of broken temple pieces and for the first time they felt their hope return to them, looking into little Jack's cheery face. Perhaps…they had a chance of beating Wuya and Shésui after all.

(-)

In a fittingly dark and sinister portion of China, bordering the temple, two women were moving animatedly in the black curtain of the shadows. Wuya crossed her black sleeved arms and rolled her slit eyes, annoyed again. After a few hours of deadlock fighting, she and Shésui had at last decided that they were getting nowhere and should concentrate their efforts into taking over the world instead. The one problem with this, Wuya easily saw, was that she'd have to share everything with that ungrateful Shésui. Looking into her brown-haired nemesis's sparkly blue eyes, she could tell that she felt the same way. Ruling the world _with_ somebody wouldn't cut it, even though she had promised Jack the same thing when she'd first met him…not that she ever intended to keep that promise.

"It's important that we revive the entire Heylin clan…" Shésui was saying, half to herself, because Wuya was only half-listening. "And with the current situation, I believe we could have most of it back. We could use the CFPU for followers, and _this_ to reveal an evil person's origins…" The icy woman held up a familiar large, golden tub, but her plan recitation was cut short by a sharp "Shhh!" from Wuya.

The legendary evil sorceress brought one hand up to her elfin ear. "Do you hear that!" she hissed. "Someone's coming! It sounds like one of those infernal Xiaolin brats, coming to spy on us!"

Shésui immediately lowered her voice. "I thought we killed all of them in the Vault," she objected, "But even if they did find a way to survive, we can just kill them here, right? It's no problem."

A dark form was emerging in the distance, and Wuya hushed her reluctant partner into silence once again. She was just about to approach the figure, blasting fingers raised, when the person spoke to them.

"Pleasure meeting up with you ladies," a somewhat deeper but strikingly familiar voice piped up.

"Who are you?" Wuya demanded, steadying her lock on the person in case they made one wrong move. "I know who you _sound_ like, but you can't possibly be…"

Then, at that statement, the figure moved closer to the two witches, so they could see him. A pasty white face emerged in front of them, accompanied by a dark robe and shiny white skull shoulders. His spiky, bright red hair was pulled back underneath a crown-like hat, and his matching eyes seemed narrower and wise. He smiled and seemed the spitting image of a vampire, minus the bloody fangs.

Wuya blinked, an unusual falter of surprise. "Jack?" she hissed. "What are you doing here? You know we have no further use for you. Get lost before we kill you too."

"Aww, I find it sweet that you care," the mysterious Jack-shaped entity continued, his voice a taunting singsong. "And anyway, if you were paying close enough attention you would've been able to tell that I'm _not_ Jack Spicer…not in this timeframe, anyway." He was right, Wuya realized. This figure seemed so much like him…but there was something different about him.

"So tell us who you _are_, already!" Shésui broke through the silence, stomping forward and grabbing the boy by the collar. "Before I make a _third _skull on top of that coat!"

"Okay, okay," the voice said again, chillingly calm, especially for Jack Spicer. "No need to get impatient. Just release me and I'll tell you."

Shésui slowly loosened her grip on him, although she kept her shooting fingers cocked towards his heart, as did Wuya. "Okay. You better explain yourself now."

The figure smiled again, revealing his top row of yellow teeth. "I am Jack's pure yin essence," he began. "I appear through the Yin Metal Orb…" He paused to hold up a shining grayish globe. "…Whenever he goes to sleep and his soul wanders. I take the form of a shade from his possible future."

A small grin began to twist onto Wuya's face. At last, a Jack who was truly evil. And being older, he seemed much more clever and sensible. This could be a most favorable turn of events.

"Right now, since your release, the yin-yang balance has once again been tipped to the yin side…but I'm sure my yang equivalent, along with the Xiaolin Warriors will be out looking for the Balance Points to equalize the forces. We've got to get there before them and prevent them from achieving this."

Wuya nodded to herself, allowing this information to process in her mind. "Ah, yes. The Balance Points. I happened upon a few of them earlier. There was one in that idiot Raimundo's playroom."

Yin Jack nodded back at her. "Once we eliminate them and fix the twenty-five Balance Points to our side, it will be ridiculously easy to take over the world."

Shésui smiled as well, stepping up next to him. "I guess we'll be making a temporary partnership, eh?" she suggested.

"Well, yes, I guess so," Yin Jack finally agreed. He turned to summon his army of futuristic, enhanced Jack-bots up behind him.

While Shésui continued to speak to him and marvel at the new robots, Wuya turned away from the scene. Her bright, evil eyes settled upon a familiar shimmering spot left abandoned on the ground. The Biao Lu Basin. Quickly, she snatched it into her arms. Then, glancing back at her new partners, an idea began to form in her head. She looked down at the Biao Lu Basin…then over at Yin Jack…and then back again. As infuriating as Shésui was…sometimes, she did come up with some legitimate plans…


	9. Searching

Oh my God! Is this an update…from _me?_ You bet. While I sincerely apologize for the incredibly long amount of time it has been since I last updated, please allow me to explain. Right now, between college (university) applications, schoolwork, and musical rehearsals, I have hardly any time to myself. Also, during last summer, I started writing a Harry Potter fanfiction, and I considered abandoning this story to focus all my efforts into it. However, after realizing what random and unsubstantiated crap the plot was, I turned back towards Xiaolin Showdown and this story.

So without further ado, here's Chapter 9! It probably wasn't worth the wait… This chapter was a little difficult to put together, deciding which events needed to happen when, without making it boring. By the end of this, you may have some questions about a certain new character, but mostly everything will be answered in the next couple of chapters.

As of now, I have no idea how long it will be until the next update, although I _have _started Chapter 10 and have a better idea of its succession of events. _Possibly _sometime next month, though I won't guarantee it. I have a vacation week coming up!

(-)

Chapter 9: Searching

_Flap, flap! _"Okay, all done!"

Rai, Kimiko, Clay, and Omi stared down with wide eyes at the beaming little boy in front of them, holding a long red towel. "…That's it?" Rai asked, blinking in exasperation.

"Well, that's the first three anyway," Yang Jack admitted, his smile drooping a bit. "There are still twenty-one left… Here's your towel back, Kimiko…"

"My towel?" Kimiko asked. She reached down and took the red towel from his little hands. "Hey, yeah! Look at that!" When she turned it around, she noticed that there was actually a large yin-yang symbol emblazoned on the front.

"I found the other two on some pieces of wood," the little Jack told them. "One used to be a tabletop and the other was on one side of the building."

"How do you know that?" Rai asked, skeptically raising one bushy eyebrow.

"I can visualize them!" Yang Jack protested. He rose up on his tiptoes to make himself feel bigger. "I have special powers, alright?"

"Okay, whatever," Rai finally dismissed, rolling his eyes a little.

"So…" Omi purposefully interrupted, stepping past Rai. "…Where do you think the next one is located?"

"Umm…" As the little redheaded boy put one hand to his chin and screwed up his face in thought, Kimiko carefully folded her beach towel and deposited it in an unseen pocket of her robe. "Well…it seems to be close by…" Yang Jack thought aloud. "But it's _moving_…no, not there…maybe…I think…there!" As he uttered the final word, the little boy broke out of his position and jabbed his index finger towards the location.

"_What_?" Clay cried out from the end of his small, stubby finger. "_Me?_"

"No, not you," the boy clarified, "_Him_."

And then, from underneath Clay's hat, Dojo emerged, slithering over his host's shoulders. Then, suddenly, he froze. "Uh…what's this? Why is everyone staring at me…?"

"_Dojo?_" Kimiko exclaimed. "_He's _not a Balance Point! How can anyone _be _a Balance Point?"

"Maybe it's _on_ 'im," Clay suggested, turning his head to look into Dojo's scales. "Dojo, have you seen any weird markings on you lately?"

"Uh…no…" The miniaturized dragon replied. "Not since my last Shen-Gong-Wu rash…"

"It's not on him!" Yang Jack suddenly realized, still not lowering his accusing finger. "It's _in _him!"

Now, all four Xiaolin Warriors couldn't help but break into wide-eyed, incredulous stares. "_IN him?_" they cried in unison. "I remember that one time we went inside of Dojo…when he went evil and insane…" Kimiko recalled. "But I never saw anything that looked like a yin-yang symbol."

"Me neither," Omi agreed, placing his round head into his small hand. "I wouldn't know how to get back in or out of him to get to it."

"Hey, wait, wait, _hold_ _on_!" Dojo sprang from his perch on Clay's hat and held out his claws, signaling them to stop. "Just how did this thing _get_ inside me? How can you get it out? …I'm scared of having surgery!" By now, he'd retreated, this time hiding behind Clay's large brown boots and quaking in anxiety.

"No, no," Kimiko spoke up, putting on her reassuring tone. "We won't have to operate on you, thank _God_… we've got the Shen-Gong-Wu!" Already, Omi and Rai had begun to shuffle through the heaping, disorganized pile that they had salvaged from the vault's destruction.

"He could use the Changing Chapsticks along with the Jet Bootsu to fly in through your sinuses…" Omi suggested, holding the respective objects up and turning from the pile. "I have done that before. He is already smaller than me, so he should have no trouble fitting!"

Yang Jack frowned and shuddered a bit. "I'm not looking forward to this…but, well, it could be worse…"

"You could use the Manchurian Musca too, if you wanted," Rai added, wrenching the awkward, fly-shaped object from the Shen-Gong-Wu pile. "That is, if you don't mind being a fly."

"That would be making it worse," Yang Jack dismissed with a small, grim smile. At last, he took the Changing Chopsticks and the Jet Bootsu from Omi. "Um, how do these work, anyway?"

The other Xiaolin Warriors looked at each other. They kept forgetting that Yang Jack had none of the present memories or knowledge that normal Jack possessed. "Well, the Changing Chopsticks make you tiny," Kimiko kindly explained, pointing to the chopsticks as she did so. "You just say 'Changing Chopsticks' to activate them, and then say it again when you're ready to return to normal size. The Jet Bootsu allow you to hover or walk up and down vertical surfaces. You just say their name to activate them as well."

Yang Jack fitted the Jet Bootsu over his feet. At first, they were many sizes too big for him, but in a moment, they magically conformed to his shoe size. "Okay…" he said, gathering his courage in a deep breath. "I think I'm ready."

"No!" Dojo cried out in protest. "_I'm _not! You think it's easy to just let a little boy go inside your body and poke around?" The small dragon continued to hide behind Clay's boots, refusing to cooperate.

"This would be a lot easier if he were unconscious…" Rai spoke up.

"Awful sorry about this, Dojo," Clay said, all of a sudden.

"What?" Dojo asked, in a panicked snap. "What are you sorry…" And that was when Clay hit him over the head with the Fist of Tebigong, and he fell, unconscious, to the ground.

"Okay," Omi announced, in an ironically cheerful voice as he turned towards Yang Jack. "He's all yours."

(-)

At last, his back slammed against a cold, hard boulder and he had his first moment of repose. Bob panted, clutching his loose, blue sweatshirt away from his sweltering body. Patches of dirt crumbled off as he shook it out and the tears along each side grew a centimeter wider. Bruises and scrapes covered his body, and even some pieces of his bluish-black hair, previously in cornrows, were poking out and covering a little bit more of his scalp. Bob's features scrunched into an odd expression- some sort of cross between disappointment, fear, and rage, as his mousy brown eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. This was pretty bad…but, in truth, he was lucky to walk away from his situation with only this.

Although Shésui had sent him back to his body before the explosion, he'd been unable to get himself out of the gutter of the east temple building and out of the area in time. In fact, Bob had been in the process of returning to the vault, believing that he truly could help Shésui somehow to get her revenge on Wuya. Pathetic. That was the instant that the vault exploded and fell to ruin. Bob had finally relinquished his hopes and hid himself behind a tree on the temple outskirts. And this was what shocked and confused him the most. Shésui had emerged from the vault rubble, along with a red-haired woman who Bob surmised was Wuya…but the two weren't fighting each other. They didn't even seem to be _speaking_ to each other. Together, Wuya and Shésui had formed black concentrations of power in their hands, which they then hurled at the remaining walls. Eventually, the consecutive explosions of their attack were enough to topple Bob's hiding place, as well as injure him with its flying, projectile-like debris. And now, he'd been walking across the eerily dark and scraggly plain, trying to catch up with his love.

So far, he'd seen no human sign of Wuya or Shésui, although he'd been tracking this scorching, dead landscape that they left in their wake. He had no idea if they'd even battled yet, and who had won, but it was the only thing he could do. _She doesn't like me…_Bob admitted to himself, as he gently slipped to the cracked, dry ground against the rock. _She still just thinks of me as frivolous young boy. I don't even know if she's still alive… What was she doing with Wuya anyway? Did she team up with her? Was she lying to me the whole time? _At last releasing his soiled shirt and catching his breath, Bob leaned back on the rock and placed his head above it. In this process, the heavy silver medallion around his neck flopped into his lap, its rows of dots shining up at him.

_I don't care_, he determinedly set his mind. _I know she's alive somewhere…_ He blinked back his fears and focused on the twinkling stars above. _It was destiny that we met on that beach…that I should aid her in being her phony spirit partner…and spend so much time with her. I don't want it to end. _He pinched his eyelids closed once again, shutting out the world's image so that he could better look into himself. _I'm going to find her. Whether she likes me or not, I'm going to find her, and when I do…I'll _make _her mine!_

"Bob?" a small, distant voice called to him from the other end of that pitch-black tunnel. "…Bob?" For a moment, he thought he might be dying, but then stupidly realized that he could still feel the rock against his back. "_Bob_!" the voice frantically raised itself. "C-Can you _hear_ me?"

When he opened his eyes, a very familiar and comforting crowd stood before him. Gerald was kneeling and staring into his face, eyes wide with concern. The five other gang members remained behind, craning up on their motorcycles to get a good look at what was going on. "M-Master Bob, are you okay?" Gerald cried, practically slamming him against the rock as he grabbed his shoulders and continued to stare.

Bob just gave a weak laugh. "Do I _look _like I'm okay? You were supposed to be looking after my body."

"I'm sorry!" Gerald yelled, recoiling to lay his head against the ground in a bow. "Shésui said to always stay at a safe distance away from the Xiaolin Temple! If they had seen us lurking around, they might've gotten suspicious…"

Bob managed a wry smile and slowly struggled back to his feet and away from his teammate. "I was just messing with you," he told him. "I don't blame you for what happened; it was entirely my fault." At this, several of the background members gasped, and Gerald's wide-eyed face popped back up again. "I'll be all right," Bob assured him. "I've got much more to do…"

"We've been trying to pick the next target," Gerald reported, standing up at his side. "But searching has proved difficult with no readily available computer service. This is why I suggested a few months ago that we invest in a few PDA's…" He grinded to a halt at the sight of Bob's gently shaking head.

"No. Give it up. There are more important things."

Gerald blinked, the confusion still stuck to his face. "Are you _sure _you're going to be okay, Bob? You're acting a little…odd. Did you hit your head at all? Maybe all that spirit-body transference messed up your mental structure."

"I am _not_ insane!" Bob barked back at him. "I just think it's time we gave this whole silly thing up. I can never eliminate _everyone _I want to. Life is much more than that. I don't want to banish anyone else."

"So…" Gerald hesitantly asked. "…You're disbanding the CFPU?" The other members stood almost completely straight on their cycles, and a dread hush fell over them all.

"…Not necessarily," Bob told them. "Anyone who wishes to stay together as a team is welcome to stay together as a team, but I have a new purpose now." And with that, he turned from the congregation, taking solid, full steps out towards the distance. "I'll see you around, Jerry," he called back to his friend. His form grew smaller and smaller against the horizon as the now former CFPU members looked on in stunned silence.

"… 'Jerry'?" Gerald at last said, with slight disgust and puzzlement. "He _never_ calls me 'Jerry'."

(-)

Once again, the Xiaolin Warriors' robes and hairstyles flapped against their bodies with the wind. Omi sat close to Dojo's head, with Clay bringing up the rear, as always, and Rai in front of him. Kimiko, however, had to hold Yang Jack in front of her so he wouldn't be blown straight off the dragon's slippery hide. They flew in a dreadfully familiar direction from the temple's ruins, in accordance with Yang Jack's Balance Point sensor.

The limp, unconscious body of the present Jack Spicer was following behind them, anchored by Clay's rope and held aloft by his puttering HeliPack. They'd had to rub a good amount of sleeping powder into his face to make sure he remained unconscious, and held the Harp of Harmonies at the ready, in case he showed any signs of arousing out of his slumber.

"So you're sure it's this way?" Kimiko asked, looking down at the small boy in front of her. "It looks like we're heading towards _your_ house…well, the present Jack's house."

"I'm sure," Yang Jack affirmed, fingering the Changing Chopsticks in his stubby hands. "Just like I was sure about Dojo."

"…Urk!" the large Chinese dragon choked when he remembered. Miniaturized Yang Jack had had to leave through his mouth after converting the Balance Point on a plank of wood in his stomach cavity. "I think I remember spitting up Jack before…but I don't know what he was doing in there." Everyone on his back frowned, disgustedly at the thought.

The Xiaolin Warriors then fell to silence, and the only sounds that could be heard were the whirling of Jack's helicopter rotors, hair, clothes, and mustaches slapping against each other, and the mournful, foreboding howl of the rushing winds. Rai, who was naturally the most connected with them, sat up straight and settled into a grim expression. The wind was different now. It carried the tickling, pricking small of something that had been recently burned…or blown up. Omi slowly looked down off the edge of Dojo's back, and the others hesitantly but gradually followed him. The earth below seemed blackened and dead…the ground cracked and bare, and the trees shriveled and leafless.

"It looks like Wuya and Shésui have been by here already," Omi gravely declared.

"It looks just like the last time Wuya became human," Rai ashamedly admitted. "All they need is a big, evil-looking castle…"

Clay shook his blond head and extended an arm out to point into the distance. "One step ahead of you." Indeed, the jagged, rocky brown Heylin palace stuck up against the purplish, bruised sky, like a giant thorn or the tip of a primitive spear. The glowing orb containing the curling symbol of Wuya's empire hung in the air above it like a sinister moon.

Rai's shoulders immediately slumped, as if all the hope in his being had just drained out. "Just great," he muttered, darkly to himself. "I don't think it can _get_ any worse…and if it can, I don't want to see it."

"We're almost there!" Yang Jack excitedly announced, strangely oblivious to the depressing and wicked atmosphere all around him. Well, when you were the embodiment of pure Yang essence, negativity was almost impossible.

"And we're almost at your house too," Kimiko informed him, removing one of her arms for a moment to point down at the red-roofed manor just below them.

"Ladies and gentlemen please fasten your seat belts," Dojo announced, putting on his pseudo-pilot voice. "We are now arriving at the Spicer House. Please keep your hands, arms, heads, and everything else on the dragon at all times." And with that, he plunged into a steep dive, aiming straight for the Spicers' front lawn.

"Aaaaaugh!" Yang Jack screamed as the perfectly-trimmed, green lawn zoomed up to meet him.

"Wheee!" Omi exclaimed just in front of him, from his front-seat view on Dojo's head.

Finally, just at the last moment, Dojo pulled his long body up to land safely and softly in the squishy bed of grass. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at the Spicer House. Have a nice day, and thank you for flying Dojo Airlines!"

CRASH! The Xiaolin Warriors' heads shot up at the frightening sound. Something had just fallen into a tree a few yards away, and they all had a sinking suspicion of what it could be.

"_Jack_!" Kimiko cried out, abandoning her boyfriend's yang essence to tend to his battered body.

"Well," Raimundo optimistically stated. "If _that_ didn't wake him up, nothing will."

Kimiko deftly leaped up the tree's branches to find Jack in the middle of the leaves, dangling by his HeliPack, which was still whirring and goring a hole in the foliage. Even though he now had a few fresh bruises, he was still snoring away. Kimiko maneuvered her arm so she could flip the switch of the HeliPack, and then untangle him from the branches. Frowning, she descended from the tree and shot a reproachful look at the former temple guardian. "Dojo! You have to be more careful! If you hurt him again, I'll…I'll…I'll sell you to Chase Young!"

"Okay, okay!" Dojo submitted as he shrank again and detached Clay's lasso from his tail. "I was caught up in the moment. I promise it won't happen again."

"S'okay," Clay added, rolling his rope back up and reattaching it to his belt. "We got bigger steaks to grill. Oooh…steak…"

"So, Yang…" Rai interrupted, using a short name for Yang Jack. "Where is this next Balance Point?"

"Uh…well the first one's right here…"

The Xiaolin Warriors (except for Clay, who had sunken into Steak Mesmerism) watched interestingly as the small, freckled boy ran over towards that very same tree that his body had gotten stuck in. He placed his small, stubby hand in the middle of the yin-yang symbol carved into its bark…and then, something remarkable happened.

Although they'd sent him off to convert four other Balance Points before, the others had yet to witness the conversion. A small, nebulous cloud of lighted particles burst from the symbol's edges, framing it in a kind of otherworldly confetti. The small pieces solidified into a yellow, shining glow, and the symbol seemed as if someone were shining a flashlight through it from inside the tree. At last, it shifted, from its original color of dull, mixed brown to the solid black-and-white that it often took on in illustrated representations. Yang Jack closed his unusually large red eyes, and rows of dots making up a square, much like those that periodically adorned Omi's brow, appeared on the boy's forehead. The activated Balance Point began to rotate, until its white Yang side was facing upwards, whereas the black Yin side had been facing up before.

Then, everything settled back down to normality. The dots on Yang Jack's forehead vanished, and the symbol became a simple tree carving again, although its position remained tilted to the Yang side. "Okay!" Yang Jack chirped, oblivious again to the strange and confused expressions of the other Xiaolin Warriors. "That one's done! The others are inside."

"Okay…" Omi agreed, slowly turning around towards the very familiar old mansion behind them.

"We'll have to sneak in again," Kimiko said. "I believe Jack's father is still living there."

The others nodded faintly, although they were still in a fog over this new experience. Why would Yang Jack have the same Xiaolin dots as Omi? Nevertheless, they decided to let it remain a mystery for now, and turned to begin their hundred thousandth attack on Spicer Manor.

"Hey, wait for me!" Dojo protested, scuttling along after the Xiaolin Warriors as they began their ascent to the roof.

"Oh, no," Kimiko told him, wagging a scolding finger near his snout. "You're staying right here. Someone's got to protect Jack's body while we're gone."

Dojo sighed, but accepted his punishment and curled up on the ground next to the bruised, sleeping Jack as the Xiaolin Warriors and Yang Jack reached the roof's windows. _Ah, well, _he thought, _at least this will give me a chance to get some shut-eye too… _However, the moment his eyes had closed, and the group of good-guys had disappeared through the open window, three very recognizable figures appeared just at the manor's main entrance gate…

(-)

"…Fung? Exactly how long has it been?" Marylyn Orre sat in a lotus position on the torn-up temple ground, although her agitated state prevented her from reaching any level of meditation.

"Well, I couldn't say exactly," Master Fung admitted, stepping up beside her. "But I could estimate about five hours."

"Don't you think that's a little long to be simply recovering the Shen-Gong-Wu? I know the vault's destruction must be a vast, strewn area, but with their powers, I don't think it would take this long." Marylyn sighed, and turned her deep, green-tinted eyes towards the darkening sky above her. "I have a very bad feeling about this…"

Master Fung gazed, stonily sideways at his former pupil. "Feelings" weren't just random impulses for the Xiaolin Dragons. There was always some meaning for even the slightest feeling of dread, and apparently, Marylyn was feeling it pretty badly.

The revered former Dragon of Metal lowered her head again, grayish red waves sliding over her shoulders. "I think…I think something has happened. Something seemed wrong with my son when I last spoke with him, but I couldn't put a finger on it…I think…something might have happened to him."

"It's possible," Master Fung nonchalantly replied. "Jack's powers are so unique and unpredictable that anything could happen. We're still unsure of what sort of Element Orb powers he'll receive…and what those powers could actually _do_. I would imagine his magical essence doesn't know what to do and is in some sort of chaos."

"There's more to it than that…" Marylyn related. "I can feel something…pulling at my soul…it's like something inside of me is telling me to help…but I don't know how."

A slightly puzzled scowl formed beneath Master Fung's mustache. Even being the Xiaolin temple master and having scoured the ancient scrolls, there were still some things he didn't know. The Dragon of Metal Element Orb powers, for instance. There were several aspects of the Dragon of Metal powers that remained shrouded in mystery. In fact, in some of the writings, it had seemed that the Metal element had been purposely omitted. Master Fung had no clue as to why this was so, but he also had no way of finding out…until Jack obtained his Element Orb level, that was.

Marylyn silently rose to her padded feet again, staring into the dark sky. Sinister clouds spread their shadowy arms far overhead, and the smog blanketing the remaining portion of the sky resembled a pool of soiled water. It was Wuya. Her return to body had once again triggered this catastrophe of nature, and together with Shésui, there seemed to be no limit to what they were capable of.

"I'm going after them," Marylyn resolutely decided, her voice cold. "I can feel it. Jack's in danger, and so is the entire world. I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"Marylyn…" Master Fung sagely advised. "You are not as powerful as you once were…"

"It doesn't matter," Marylyn insisted, shaking her fiery red head. "I have to do something."

Master Fung remained tacit, staring towards her with an unreadable expression.

"…Farewell, Fung," she finally spoke up, and strode off, breaking into a run.

Master Fung remained rooted in place, looking after her, his face unchanged. _Just let her go…_ he told himself, as he watched Marylyn's form grow smaller and smaller against the brackish backdrop. His blue temple robe blew around him in the slight, wicked wind that remained. He just didn't have the heart to tell her…he knew better than to try to stop her now. No, Master Fung didn't know everything…but at almost the same time, he'd been having a few feelings of his own…

(-)

The flat bottoms of the temple uniforms' thin-bottomed shoes echoed alarmingly against the shiny, polished stone floor of the Spicer House. Yang Jack's small white sneakers hit it with no noise, but that was partially due to his small size and relative weight. "The next one is very nearby," he whispered to the others as they huddled around him.

"Is it in this hallway?" Kimiko replied, in an equally hushed tone. "Or should we search the next one over right now?"

"Let's check this one first," Yang Jack whispered. "I don't want you to split up."

"Why are we whispering?" Omi whispered in return.

"Because Jack's father is in the house somewhere!" Rai replied, raising his voice just a hair in agitation. "We can't let him hear us and think we're burglars."

"I have never met the father of Jack Spicer…" Omi whispered, thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well, from what I've heard, you wouldn't want to," Kimiko told them. "Now, c'mon, we've got a Balance Point to find."

The five of them once again began to creep down the hall, trying to make as little noise as possible. This hallway seemed familiar…they'd come down that very same window before, when they'd raided Jack's house for the stolen Shen-Gong-Wu. This was where they'd first run into Megan. Several decorative artifacts lined the walls on pedestals, and as they crept further and further along, they remembered that the Vase of Viscous Visions had once been on display here as well. Perhaps there were other inactive Shen-Gong-Wu among the exhibits…but they didn't have time for that now.

"Here," Yang Jack hissed when he reached a specific set of double doors. "It's right here."

"Is it in that room?" Clay asked, reaching the young boy's side first.

"Nope," he simply replied, and pointed towards the door. The other Xiaolin Dragons noticed right away, now that they could see it up close. One the left door, where a second handle should be, was a clearly painted symbol of a yin-yang. The little childlike Yang embodiment performed his suspicious conversion ritual once again, and the other Xiaolin Warriors made close observations. Still, they were unable to discern the reason for the boy's Xiaolin monk dots.

Yang Jack blinked confusedly as the white circles vanished from his forehead again…and remained rooted in place, staring intensely at the double doors in front of him.

"…Yang?" Kimiko asked, stepping a bit towards the boy. Normally, this was the time when he would swing back around, smile broadly at them, and announce that they had "another one down"…but something had distracted him.

Yang Jack was standing up very straight, his large red eyes fixated on the doors. Slowly, those eyes were starting to narrow, and his small mouth was opened a sliver. His breath was coming heavier, as if the memory, or whatever it was that he was experiencing was snatching the breath straight out of his mouth.

"Yang!" Rai chanced a louder call. "Hey! Are you okay?"

"Ah…" At last, the small boy was breaking out of his cold trance. His body relaxed and when he blinked again, his eyes returned to normal. "I just…had a bit of a chill. But I'm okay. C'mon, let's go!"

The others took off in a sprint down the hallway after the energetic little boy, but stole befuddled and disturbed looks at each other as they did so. What had suddenly brought _that_ on? Was there something behind that door…?

(-)

The thick, piercing black darkness swept over the small enclosed room. Pieces of stone and painted scraps of metal lied in deathly silence against the gray stone floor…although everything in this area seemed pitch black. Even these rejected artifacts sat blanketed in the sinister dark, as if it would swallow them and entirely delete them from existence at any moment.

Amidst the strewn, dissolving wreckage of some unknown prospect, a large lump sat, outlined only slightly by the flickering, snapping flames at its fore. A round mask hung from a beam above, turning its long red nose up and laughing its insanely swirled eyes out at all who dared approach it. The demonic sight of the licking flames bounced off it, creating an even spookier enhancement to sharpen its already razor edges.

At last, for the first time in almost 12 hours, the creature stirred. The darkened lump turned his head, and the equally sharp outline of his long face became silhouetted as well. His narrow red eyes tightened themselves even more, and his slick, dark brown hair shone against the firelight.

"Finally," the deep, smooth voice of Henry Y. Spicer resounded in the horrific silence. "The time has come." And with that, he rose from his perch on the purple embroidered cushion to grab the black cloak hanging on a nearby wooden hook and drape it over his shoulders. Then, he reached forward and pushed open the set of double doors right next to it.

(-)

Kimiko took in a breath and looked around the long and strangely empty basement. It was just another normal basement after all. For some reason, she had a strange feeling as she gazed at the bare concrete walls. It wasn't sadness; she was considerably happy to see the "evil" lair vanish into thin air, but it just felt strange…as if it had been a regular meeting hall for the Xiaolin Warriors, and now suddenly it was gone.

"Oh, great…" Yang Jack muttered to himself in a childish pouting voice. "Just great. I though there'd at least be something for me to climb on…"

"_Climb _on?" Omi asked, scouring the empty walls for anything resembling a yin-yang symbol. There didn't seem to be any Balance Points in this room…so why had Yang Jack led them down here? Maybe he just felt a connection to it, although at his age, Jack hadn't moved into the basement or decided to become an evil boy genius yet.

The little boy just pointed upwards, and when the Xiaolin Warriors all simultaneously looked up, they also uttered a unanimous murmur of "ohhhhhh"… A giant symbol of a yin-yang was painted onto the ceiling, filling the center section of the design that made it up.

"But…it's so…big!" Omi cried, spreading his little arms wide. "How are you supposed to convert something of that size?"

"Balance Points come in all shapes and sizes," Yang Jack informed them. "It doesn't matter how big it is; if I can reach it, I can reorient it to the Yang side."

Rai nodded to himself in understanding. "So the only problem is getting you up to the ceiling to reach it? Well, no sweat." He reached into a pocket on his uniform and pulled out the previously used pair of black-and-gold boots. "Just use the Jet Bootsu to fly up there."

Yang Jack's little face lit up at the realization. He'd forgotten about the Shen-Gong-Wu, even though he'd just used them inside of Dojo. He caught the two boots when Rai tossed them towards him, but before he could even yell "Jet Bootsu" or fit the resizing footwear onto his feet, a terrible splintering crash broke out.

Yang Jack jerked his red head towards the sound, but by that time, it was too late. "Aaaaugh!" He suddenly found himself against the cold concrete wall, trapped in the grip of a golden, enhanced Jack-bot.

"Yang!" Kimiko cried out, hurrying to the boy's aid, but the remaining Xiaolin Warriors remained in place, taking on fighting stances and glaring up at the familiar faces that appeared at the bottom of the steps.

"Wuya!" Omi cried, jabbing a yellow finger at the figure of the powerful Heylin witch. "Shésui!" he added, pointing this time to the other powerful Heylin witch to his left. "And you!" He pointed again, at the male figure between them. "You must be Yin Jack!"

"And you must be Omi," Yin Jack replied, a nasty smile spreading over his blanched face. "It's a pleasure."

"This is bad," Clay whispered down to his overconfident partner. "This is _real_ bad. Wuya and Shésui nearly destroyed us before with just one blast…how will we defend against them now! An' we have no idea what Yin Jack can do…"

"Well, then," Omi easily replied. "It's best not to find out! Tornado Dragon Strike, Water!"

As soon as the familiar, large columns of water appeared, and before he even had the time to add the Orb of Tornami to his attack, Shésui stepped forward and held out one hand. Instantly, the water around him froze into a constricting snare of hard ice, and Omi screamed as he crashed to the basement floor in its grip. "Don't mess with a fake Dragon of Ice," she teased with a mocking smile. "I _still_ can't believe you fell for that."

"…Hyaaah!" With one powerful kick, Omi burst through the ice again, and Clay and Rai prepared their Shen-Gong-Wu in the background. "Well, we know about you now, and that's all that matters! Tornado Dragon Strike, Water!"

"Seismic Dragon Kick, Earth!" Clay echoed at the same time that Rai called, "Typhoon Dragon Boom, Wind!" They hoped that their combined attacks would be too much for Shésui and Wuya to handle at once.

"Judallet Dragon Kick, Fire!" Kimiko yelled, aiming for the gold upgraded Jack-bot holding Yang Jack prisoner. The flames simply died against its armored exterior. Unfortunately, it seemed that, in the future, Jack had finally figured out how to make his Jack-bots fireproof.

"Don't worry about me!" little Yang Jack screeched from underneath the claw. "Just stop _him_!" When he pointed, Kimiko quickly whirled around, and noticed Yin Jack advancing on them. Apparently, he'd slipped away unnoticed during Clay, Omi, and Rai's combined attacks and was now aiming his jet-enhanced HeliPack towards the Balance Point on the ceiling.

"Stop right there!"

"Oh, and _you're _going to make me?" Yin taunted, his finger centimeters away from the "On" switch.

"Yes I am!" Kimiko insisted. "Judallet Dragon Kick, Fire!" She flew upwards, one muscled leg out straight, but Yin's jetpack was too fast for her moves, and he slipped just above her. "Star Hanabi, Fire!" At least this time, Kimiko's flaming throwing star hit its mark; it jammed itself in the evil teenager's jetpack and he fell back to the concrete ground.

Meanwhile, Wuya and Shésui were calmly absorbing attack after attack from the three Xiaolin males. Although none of the attacks ever did any damage to them, they served to distract them from attacking back.

Clay panted as he stepped out of yet another attempt. "It just ain't no good," he relinquished. "We've tried everythin'!"

"You must not loose heart!" Omi exclaimed, although he was panting too as he landed just in front of his Texas comrade. "Hopefully, we can stall them long enough for Yang to reach the Balance Point…"

"But how can he do that when he's trapped up against the wall?" Rai cried, from just behind them. "And Yin is trying to get there first!"

"_Aaaaugh_!" Omi suddenly screamed. Rai and Clay turned around just in time to see a black ball of energy laced with icy blue electricity slam full-force into the little monk. His body hit with such force that a few cracked pieces of concrete were beginning to crumble off the wall at his point of impact.

"Omi!" Clay cried out in alarm.

"We can't worry about him now!" Rai determinedly exclaimed. "Here comes round two!" Indeed, several additional energy balls were now headed straight towards the two Xiaolin Dragons. Rai dodged quickly to the side, narrowly missing the whitish globule of power from Shésui's hands, and one atomic green blast from Wuya singed the top of Clay's cowboy hat as he ducked.

Shésui let loose a sinister laugh. "Although my initial intensions were crushing you for my own ends, I find working together for the greater evil to be almost as enjoyable, wouldn't you say?"

"Definitely," Wuya replied, gazing with relish at Omi's small, mangled body.

In the corner of the basement, held three feet above the ground, little Yang Jack struggled to glimpse the destruction around him. He'd seen Omi's hit, and Rai and Clay continuing to attack against the two Heylin witches. Just in front of him, Kimiko was also battling Yin Jack…but she didn't seem to be having any better luck.

_No! _his mind screamed, _I can't let them get hurt. They're going through all this trouble just for me…_

He glanced back down, towards the shiny, advanced Jack-bot that held him in its grasp. A second pincer hand was pressing against his cheek, preventing him from speaking, ever since he's issued that warning to Kimiko. His narrowed red eyes connected with the digital, artificial ones of his captor. How ironic…that he'd be captured and held back by the very objects he strived to create. The Jack-bots had been his best friends…his close companions, who he could always count on to be by his side forever. This was one of those same robots…wasn't it?

Distressed and confused, Yang Jack simply continued to stare into the robot's metal, digital visor. Though it couldn't actually see, it had been installed with a scanner, programmed to recognize friend from foe, and any unidentifiable agents were automatically defined as "foe". But…there was something in this particular entity's makeup…

As Yang stared, intensely, something strange began to happen. The Jack-bot's clamp arm began to shake. Then, all at once, it mechanically dropped. Yang, suddenly released from the bind, dropped to the concrete floor, and surprisingly, when he did, the Jack-bot reached out one mechanical arm to help him up. "Thanks…" he smiled at his future creation and took on a challenging stance. Thankfully, Yin, Wuya, and Shésui were too busy battling Kimiko, Clay, and Rai to notice his escape. It was the perfect opportunity.

"Jet Bootsu!" the little boy cried, and the Shen-Gong-Wu footwear immediately replaced his small sneakers.

"_What?_" Yin Jack cried, glancing up from his one-on-one duel with Kimiko.

It seemed the two Heylin witches had also noticed. "I _told_ you to stay focused, Al!" Wuya cried, dodging to avoid a sudden blast of wind from Raimundo. "Stop that little brat before he gets to the Balance Point!"

Yin instantly snapped to attention and slammed his metal pole weapon into the side of a distracted Kimiko. Before she had a chance to react, he wrenched his crumbling advanced HeliPack from her grasp, and pulling a string on its side, jump-started its rocket-booster feature.

Yang gritted his baby teeth and kicked as hard as he could against the ground. His light little body took off with astounding speed, and he was almost level with his evil counterpart, who was gripping tightly to the mini-rocket HeliPack.

"Star Hanabi, Fire!" Kimiko yelled, again throwing her Shen-Gong-Wu towards their enemy.

"…Ultimate Tornado!" Rai was finishing up his Dragon level attack and aiming it at Yin Jack.

In a millisecond's flash, Shésui and Wuya appeared in front of them. Holding out their hands, they calmly subdued the giant twister that had materialized from Rai's body.

Yin Jack easily jerked the HeliPack in his arms to the right, avoiding the fiery, rotating Shen-Gong-Wu. It was a race to the finish now…just like a Xiaolin Showdown…Jack versus himself.

Kimiko lowered her arms and held her breath in despair. Rai fell back to the ground with his mouth open. Clay stood frozen as if he had merged with the concrete below him. Wuya clenched her talon-like hands in anticipation. Even Omi looked up a bit from his paralyzed position against the ground. Both Yin and Yang Jacks were approaching the enormous Balance Point on the ceiling at the exact same speed. Desperately, Yang reached out one stubby arm towards the symbol, and Yin, noticing him, did the same.

Kimiko covered her eyes and looked away. _There's no way_, she realized. _Yang's arms are too short to reach it first. It's hopeless. _

Then, at last, the entire basement flooded with warm light. The mystic particles and inward light were glowing from the activating Balance Point. Yin Jack looked up towards his large hand and long fingers crawling across the design's center…but for some reason, he wasn't feeling the same reorienting sensation that he'd had upon his awakening.

Then, that abominable little boy's round freckled face turned toward him. A freakishly wide grin spread over his hideous face…and a square formation of nine white dots had glowed onto his forehead.

_How…?_ Suspiciously, Yin Jack lifted his hand from the ceiling, to find a tiny, chubby hand hiding underneath it. _Oh, geez…_

Wuya smacked her head into her hand, while Shésui simply rolled her dotted eyes. In a few more minutes, the yin-yang symbol had lit up, turned itself around, and settled back down again, and the two Jacks were lowering themselves back to the ground.

"Hmph!" Yin scoffed. "You got a lucky break. Don't expect the same next time we meet."

"Oh, yeah?" Yang scolded, continuing to smile. "I'm not just a helpless little kid, you know."

At this point, a mysterious and wry smirk appeared across Yin's face as well. "Neither am I just a diabolical teenager."

"Come on," Wuya burst out, seizing Yin's arm and dragging him towards the entry stairs. "We've got no time to stand around and exchange cryptic threats! The rest of the world is out there just waiting to be conquered!"

Kimiko, Clay, and Rai gave each other confused expressions, until they realized that one of them was missing. "Omi!" they cried, rushing to the injured monk's side.

"Urrrgh…" Omi groaned from his blackened pile of concrete. "…I do not feel well…"

"No kidding," Kimiko obviously stated. "We need to get you back to the temple ruins, so we can use the Rag of Resurrection on you."

Clay effortlessly bent down to scoop the little monk into his strong arms, but they still couldn't leave just yet. Just as well, Wuya, Shésui, and Yin had stopped dead in their tracks just before reaching the concrete stairs.

A tall cloaked figure stood at the top, outlined by the glowing light from the hallway behind him. Silently, he descended to their level, gazing at each of the basement's visitors and trying to identify them. "Well…at last…" he murmured to himself. "Wuya…it is a great honor." With that, the man swept into a low bow at Wuya's bare feet.

"Henry…" Wuya replied with a malignant smile of recognition. "I thank you for your acts in preserving my ghostly form. As you can see, the second war is already under construction."

As this man conversed with the ancient Heylin witch, Kimiko observed his appearance. _It's Jack's evil father, Henry_, she realized. _Just what is he up to? Not like we didn't have enough evil people to contend with as of now._

At the appearance of this influential man in Jack's life, both of his Yin and Yang essences reacted, though in vastly differing ways. Little Yang Jack shuddered fearfully and stepped backwards. His hands instinctually flew towards his back, as if to hide something there. Yin, however, stepped forward, an utterly disgusted and furious expression twisting his features. "Out of my way, old man," he coldly commanded, holding one arm at the ready.

"Ah," Henry replied, smiling up at his age-enhanced son. "John. How very nice to see you again."

"I _said_ get out of my way," Yin Jack repeated, snapping his fingers and calling his army of destructive Jack-bots to instant attention. "Or I'll have to _make_ you move."

Henry shrugged indifferently and stood back up. "Have it your way," he conceded, stepping up one level on the basement stairs. "You'll come out eventually. I'm glad to see that all my hard work has paid off." On his way up, he glanced past the enraged teenager and laid eyes on his childish counterpart. "Don't try to fight against it," he advised, staring into the young boy's frightened red orbs. "You'll only fall to it again. See you in the final Showdown." And with that, he disappeared again into the house's dark depths.

With one quick flick of Wuya's long-nailed fingers, the villains vanished, probably back to their castle for world-conquering discussion.

The Xiaolin Dragons confusedly stared for a few more minutes, while Yang tried to shake off his spell of shock and fright. "Omi!" Clay remembered with a start, and the five of them promptly broke into a sprint back towards the mansion's lawn.

(-)

"Zzzzzzzzz…hmm-hmm-hmmm…zzzzzzzz…"

"_Dojo_!"

"Eh? What?"

Jolted from his peaceful dragon-nap, Dojo jumped up, his long body almost completely vertical. "What'd you have to do that for?" he complained. "You could've just lightly tapped me…"

"You call _that_ guarding?" Rai scolded, folding his arms over his chest.

"Well…ya see…watching other people sleep tends to make you a bit tired, so I though I'd just close my eyes for a few seconds…"

"We have no time for this!" Kimiko cut in. "Dojo, you need to fly us back to the temple; Omi's been really hurt and we need to use the Rag of Resurrection on him!"

"Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?" Dojo cried, in the middle of transforming. "C'mon, hop on!"

(-)

"Thank you very much, my friend." Clay breathed a sigh of relief and let the silvery scrap of fabric flutter back towards the scorched terrain as a lively, unscathed Omi hopped energetically out of his arms. "I will not underestimate my enemies' potential again. And Yang! I must heartily congratulate you on your swift victory!" The round-headed monk flashed a smile and a thumbs-up at the little boy.

He blushed and tried to hide his face behind the detached Jet Bootsu in his arms. "It was nothing, really," he replied. "Besides, we've still got seventeen more Balance Points left!"

"Okay, who thought that battle was a little weird?" Kimiko finally felt comfortable enough to bring up the subject.

"Yeah, I thought Shésui wanted to destroy Wuya and get her revenge on her. Why would they ever team up?" Omi brought one small finger to the side of his mouth in thought.

"They said it was for 'the greater evil' or something like that," Rai mused. "I wonder what _that_ is."

"Probably the destruction of the world," Clay guessed, from several past experiences.

"And was I just hearing things, or did Wuya yell at Yin Jack and call him 'Al'?" Rai spoke up, frowning with puzzlement.

"…Yeah, I heard her say 'Al' too…" Kimiko muttered to herself.

"It could just be her nickname for him," Omi added.

"What kind of nickname is 'Al' for Yin Jack?"

"A really bad one."

"Well, Wuya never did have good taste."

During his partners' brainstorming session, Yang Jack had been having some meditation of his own. When he opened his eyes again, the Xiaolin Dragons were still deliberating with each other…but he smiled with satisfaction. "I know where the next Balance Point is," he announced, and the conversation grinded to a halt.

(-)

The pointy, jagged edges of the castle's rock and ice formations ringed the stone throne room as the Heylin group entered. Wuya strode in front of her partners, holding the Biao Lu Basin within her long talon reach. She glided easily and familiarly to the base of the glistening dais, just like the detested black bird for which she had been named.

Shésui stopped suddenly as she noticed this action. She'd been expecting her to make a grab at the solitary throne which sat at the top of the short stairway. Essentially, this particular castle belonged to the _two _of them, since it was not only made from Wuya's control over the rocky fiber of this world, but also from Shésui's control over the deep cold presiding in everyone's hearts. While she stared on in shaken surprise, she barely even noticed the tall figure move from behind her.

Yin Jack stepped forward, hard-bottomed boots clicking stonily against the ice-glossed ground. His golden Jack-bot army stayed behind, sensing some kind of disturbance in their master. Steadily, he made his way towards the dais, and then began to climb its steps.

"Wha…?" Shésui began to protest, but closed her mouth again to continue watching in appall.

Finally, Yin turned around and, carefully placing his cape underneath, took a revered seat in the castle's jagged throne.

Now, the serpentine witch couldn't keep it in any longer. "_What?_ How come _he _gets the throne? Clearly, it should go to one of us! He's only a foolish human boy! Surely _he _can't be expected to rule over the new, divine order of the Heylin!"

At this, a sly, secretive smile twisted onto Wuya's painted lips. "You'll see in a little while. Why don't you just relax for a bit, Shé? It's been quite a while since you've been here, hasn't it?"

Shésui narrowed her dotted eyes and glared back. "No thanks to you. Don't think I've forgotten your treachery…and I _hate_ it when you call me that."

Wuya's smile only widened. "But it appears there are a few things that you _have _forgotten."

Frustratingly, Shésui seated herself on a rock shelf in the nearby wall. "Why did we come back here, anyway! We should be out looking for those Balance Points. If the rest go to the Yang side, imagine how powerful those Xiaolin nuisances will become! We should just crush them now while we have the upper hand!"

"Patience, patience, Shé," Wuya teased as she leaned against the basin's lip at her feet. "All in due time. The Balance Points will not even matter…" At last, she turned and nodded towards Yin Jack in the throne. He silently nodded back towards her, offering a small, equally sly smirk.

Shésui got to her feet as Wuya picked up the Biao Lu Basin and began to carry it up the dais steps. What in the name of all that was evil was going on here? She was acting as if she were going to present the Shen-Gong-Wu to the teenage twerp as a token of kingly worship. But suddenly, as she squinted at the long figure of the boy in the throne, something seemed to be changing about him.

Wuya cautiously placed the Biao Lu Basin at the very edge of the platform, and sweeping, humbly backwards, descended back to the base where she stood, straight and alert. Curiously, Shésui stepped up next to her, and from this distance, she could definitely tell that something was different about Yin Jack.

He closed his narrow red eyes, and from underneath his metallic homemade crown, something began to shine. Several red dots glowed onto his forehead arranged in a sideways, diamond formation. The mark of the ancient Heylin forces.

Shésui tried to keep herself from gaping, as Yin then bent down to pick up the mysterious golden Shen-Gong-Wu. For a moment, he gazed down, directly at the two witches, and gave them another small smile, though this one almost seemed to be thanking them for some unknown kindness they had done to him.

Silence reigned through the castle for a moment more, and all at once it shattered with Yin's forceful cry of "Biao Lu Basin!" And with that, he held the large container over himself, and yanked it down, over his body. The magic item transformed into a column of clear water, which enveloped Yin Jack, and rushed over and around his body.

Though neither Shésui nor Wuya could see through the rapidly rotating streams, they had a sense that something was taking place behind them. Unnoticed by the transfixed witches, Yin Jack's army of golden Jack-bots vanished into thin air, as if they had never even existed.

Then, at last, the swirling waterfall subsided, washing into the ground, and someone emerged from behind it- but this someone was not Yin Jack.

Shésui drew in her breath, and uttered a whispery "Oohhhhh…" at this revelation, and Wuya smiled, invitingly towards their new visitor.

He was slightly taller and larger than the teenage boy he had been before, and he wore an elaborately gold-embroidered red robe, fastened with long black buttons. The red dots were permanently in place on his smooth forehead, just below the thick furrowed eyebrows over his red, wide European eyes. There was no hair on his peach-colored head, except for the small graying beard around his mouth, and the single braided pigtail on the back of his head. He had a distinctly Emperor-like look to him, but his eyes made it clear that he was not Chinese.

Placing his hands in his long sleeves, he nodded appreciatively to Wuya and Shésui, and the two Heylin witches returned the humble gesture.

Shésui snuck another look up at him, but still couldn't believe that this man was really here in front of her again. It had been more than fifteen hundred years since she'd last seen him, when he had been the commander of the Heylin forces, and the witches' initial organizational founder.

"Alaric Spicer…" she breathed. "…welcome back, sir."

(-)

"Mmm…mmmuuh-uh…"

Kimiko glanced over at the small form shifting uncomfortably on his fabric mat next to her. Since the next Balance Point was supposedly located in Hong Kong, and it would take too long for Dojo to fly there from here, the Xiaolin Warriors had decided to settle in for the night, right here in the charred plains of what once was a section of China. Since Yang Jack usually slept while Jack was awake, and vice versa, it was awkward to see him actually sleeping while his body remained unconscious as well, but eventually, the embodied essence needed his rest. Apparently, the unusual circumstances were causing him some disturbances.

"What's the matter, Yang?" she asked, since she was the only one left awoke to hear his mumbling.

The little boy turned towards her and blinked his wide innocent eyes. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow," he whined.

Kimiko couldn't help but smile as she tried to hold in her laughter. "You're not going to school tomorrow. You're going to Hong Kong. You don't go to school there, do you?"

"No…" Yang replied, though he still had the same type of dreading look on his face.

"…Why don't you want to go?" Kimiko couldn't help asking as she sat up and pulled her cover off.

Yang shivered and tried to hide himself against the flat stone that he was using for a pillow. "They don't like me. They always break my machines, and blame me for everything, and that old lady hits me!"

Kimiko let out a little gasp. "But teachers aren't allowed to hit students anymore. It's against the law."

Yang shook his head. "Mrs. Cornhaven does. She beats me with a ruler all the time."

Now Kimiko remembered; that insane old lady they'd fought had been Jack's first-grade teacher. She smiled and pulled the little boy into her lap to comfort him. "Well don't worry about that; we're going to kick her butt for you. In fact, we already have."

Yang blinked again in confusion, but finally remembered just where he was again, and broke into a laugh. "Oh…ha ha…thanks, Kimiko!"

"Actually, you might want to thank Omi," Kimiko told him, but he had already settled down against his rock again. Kimiko smiled to herself as she watched him, and reached out to ruffle his fluffy red hair. "If you have any other problems, you can just tell me, okay?"

"Okay, Feng," Yang vaguely mumbled underneath her hand.

Alarmed, she instantly withdrew it, and gave the boy a completely baffled stare. "Um…who are you talking to?" she slowly asked. "…My name's not Feng."

"Oh…Kimiko," Yang corrected himself, gazing up at her with half-opened eyes. "I'm sorry; sleeping out-of-body is really messing with my head. I don't know what I'm talking about…"

"Just relax then, and try to sleep. It'll be morning before you know it." She gave his tiny head one last stroke, and began to settle back down against her own rock.

In the process, her eyes fell upon the form of Jack's real body, lying stiffly against the ground. If it weren't for his rising and falling chest, he would've looked dead. How long would he be able to stay asleep? Even though they could keep using the Harp of Harmonies on him, he was bound to wake up sometime.

Kimiko looked back towards Yang Jack and recalled what the little boy had told her about his school life. She'd never known much about Jack's past life, aside from his parents' separation. Perhaps this situation was the perfect opportunity for her to learn about those things that he didn't want to talk about. But then, she'd feel bad for exploiting the little thing…

Still, there seemed to be something odd about this whole situation. Even though Jack had most likely been very intelligent, even at this age, he seemed a bit _too_ mature sometimes. Admittedly, he _was_ Jack's current Yang energy with only the memories of his childhood, so he wasn't essentially a child, but still…why did he have those same Xiaolin dots as Omi? Why did he call her "Feng"? And, most disturbing of all, why hadn't Wuya, Shésui, and Yin Jack attacked them again?

As Kimiko stared out towards the twisting, deformed shapes of the burnt trees in the distance, she had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. They had to be planning something…and whatever it was, she hoped that they would be ready for it.


	10. Keeping it in the Family

I'm back again! Can you believe it? I've been off this site for a while, avoiding Time After Time spoilers (it's my turn!), and because I've had a ton of school junk. The end of school (and my birthday) is in two weeks, so all the teachers are trying to cram in all the rest of the year's work. Plus, I'm going to Canada this weekend, and really wanted to get this up before I left. My printer even ran out of black ink, and I had to turn all the text blue, so I could print it…

As an unrelated side note, part 1 of Time After Time was just like Break His Crown, only further in the future and more kiddish. It kind of freaked me out, to have an episode so close to my fanfiction. They have better Advanced Jack-bots…but I still have a better Ultimate Master Jack! I plan to download and watch part 2 before I leave, because I won't be here when they're showing in on KidsWB. Here's hoping my computer doesn't freeze in the middle of the video. The ending of part 1 pretty much killed some of my future OCs for this fic, though…

Anyway, about this chapter…I feel that some parts of it could have been better, but due to time constraints, it was a little rushed and repetitive. You might be confused in regards to the issue with Yang Jack, but future chapters should clear it up. Now, enjoy the Bob and Henry appearances, JackxKim moments, and my poking fun at fangirls! Next update will be, not assuredly, sometime near the end of June.

(-)

Chapter 10: Keeping it in the Family

After realigning two critical Balance Points—one on a slab of concrete which had once been part of Panda Bubba's hideout, and one tiny, almost invisible one on the side of a shipment crate at the local port—the Xiaolin Warriors had headed towards Kimiko's hometown. In one swift sweep over the Tohomiko Enterprises Building, Yang Jack had used Omi's HeliPack to hover down and realign a flashing Balance Point on a nearby neon advertising sign.

From there, they'd headed back up to Russia, where two more had been converted. One had to be pieced back together from the ceiling of the museum in which they'd initially discovered the Crystal Glasses. The second had been unusually tricky. Yang Jack had had to fly up from a safe place behind some trees, as it would have been difficult for Dojo to hover over the famous Russian palace without attracting some major attention. After realigning the Balance Point located on the palace's topmost pole, they'd headed back towards China. Yang really hadn't been joking when he'd said that the Balance Points were located all across the globe.

Dojo panted, his long pink tongue hanging out, as he retraced his flight patterns back towards his homeland. "How much longer?" he complained. "I can't keep flying around the entire world like this all day…"

"Do you know exactly where this one is?" Rai turned to ask the little boy sitting in Kimiko's lap.

"Um…well, I'm not sure…" Yang frowned and tried to remember. "I don't think it's actually _there _anymore, if you get what I mean…"

"Well, if it's not here, where _is_ it?" Dojo desperately cried. "Don't tell me I'm flying all this way for nothing!"

"No, no," Yang reassured him. "I know it's there, but it's not exactly where it used to be. We might have to, um, dig it up or something…"

Rai rolled his eyes and turned back towards the dragon's head. "Great, more digging. It's a good thing we've still got the Shen-Gong-Wu…"

Slowly, a deathly gray splotch began to appear on the horizon as they drew closer and closer to the next point's location. There was the border of the Heylin witches' kingdom. It might have been an illusion, but it appeared to have expanded a bit since they had last been inside. As more and more of the landscape began to disappear, consumed by the rotting patch of death, a mutual uneasy feeling of apprehension and doom passed through the Xiaolin Warriors' bodies. They had to somehow find the power to defeat this evil force…and they didn't want to even think about the alternative.

(-)

This felt all too familiar…sprinting towards an unknown destination as fast as her long legs would take her. However, the last time, she'd been whizzing past houses and other buildings before stopping at a phone booth. There were no buildings, no people, nor any phone booths in sight.

Marylyn leaped over a charred, blackened ditch and continued to run. The crumbling, withered, and scorched landscape had seemed to stretch on forever. She wasn't even sure where she was going, but as she traveled in accordance with her internal drive, somehow, she seemed to recognize some of the local landscape. _The palace…_ she realized. _That night when the attack came, they were coming from this direction. These hills hold deep, dark secrets…but something tells me that a good act can come of this. Oh!_

Stabbing one old, muscled leg into the rich, darkened soil, Marylyn came to a halt as the oddly chilling vision entered her line of perception. That red-roofed, Chinese mansion stood solidly in front of her surrounded by its barricade walls. Strange, how it still remained intact, although its neighboring houses had been burnt to the foundations. There was no way its simple concrete fences could've held back an assault from two powerful Heylin witches. Marylyn herself was the only one with that kind of power.

"The palace…" she repeated, almost refusing to believe it. No, her son couldn't have spent such a long time in a place like that and not fallen under its influence. But it was the only explanation…and it certainly explained why…

Just then, she caught a snatch of dark clothing rippling in the distance. Someone had just quickly moved away from the adjacent wall…and she had a pretty good idea of who it had been. "Henry…" she snarled, and decisively taking a stride forward, she zipped to the wall's side. Glancing around its edge and noticing the clear outline of her former husband further along, she silently slipped out to follow him to his accursed destination.

(-)

The stone monster loomed closer and closer until it had swallowed him completely, which he was perfectly willing to allow. His old, peeling sneakers squelched against the ornate, sparkling palace tile. As Bob drew closer and closer to the central chamber, pieces of the interior architecture began to shudder and twitch to life. Stone columns became hulking, ape-like boulder creatures, while stalactites above cracked off, transforming into icicle snakes or craggy forms of bats. It didn't matter now if he wasn't welcome and they were going to attack him. As soon as he reached that central chamber…

"Hhugggh!" With one exclaimed grunt of exertion, Bob ducked and slid himself underneath one of the lumbering rock minions. He forced his body back up and continued his sprint, despite the protesting burning in his lungs. No matter what, he had to reach her.

"Ah!" Bob sharply exhaled as a crystallized snake landed on his head, startling him. He simply brushed it off and continued on his path. One of the bats attempted to dive-bomb his head, but he cleverly dodged to the left, so that it smashed and shattered against the rock chest of another minion which had appeared in front of him. Zipping quickly to the side, he caused the rock minion to lose its balance chasing him, and fall to pieces as it hit the palace wall. At last, he stepped, panting, onto the other side of a blue perimeter line. Instantly, the creatures halted and returned to their former positions as part of the landscape. It was as if by reaching this point, the palace had deemed him worthy of continuing.

Bob stopped for a moment to take in his breath before looking up. An enormous, round stone face frowned down at him from the wall in disdain. This was it. Now…he just needed to open this gate to the inner sanctum.

Closing his eyes, Bob tried to picture what he'd read in the Heylin tome. Only other Heylin witches and members of their clan had been allowed to enter, in its original form, and it required a spell for a password. Bob took in a deep breath. Hopefully, just being a devoted Heylin follower and knowing the incantation would be enough.

A shadowy blue aura ignited over his skin as he concentrated. Although he had no background or family history in China or the art of magic at all, just the intense studying he'd done of the Heylin tome he'd found had begun to awaken some kind of power within him…the beginning magical energies of the Heylin witches. It seemed Heylin powers, unlike the Xiaolin elements, were a magic that could theoretically be learned by anyone. Before Bob even knew what was happening, the incantation was slipping effortlessly off his lips, and the round stone face in front of him split in the center, swiveling itself open.

With a quick blink, Bob's dark aura vanished, and his previously blank brown eyes returned to normal. His heart fluttered when he caught his first sight of the spectacle. The Heylin Palace's throne room looked exactly how he had expected it to look…but on the other side of the gate was _not _what he had expected to see.

"Oh," the smooth, unconcerned voice of Wuya first slid to his ears. "It appears we have a visitor. Is he a friend of yours, Shé?"

"Oh, it's just little Bobby," Shésui replied, in a similar tone. "I wonder what he wants. I already told him I was done with him. …And _didn't I tell you not to call me that_?"

"Ah, yes," Wuya nodded in slight understanding. "Your human tool. Would you like me to help you dispose of him?"

"I don't need your help," Shésui snapped back. "And for your information, I wasn't even planning on disposing of him."

Though Bob felt grateful and a bit more comfortable at this statement, he still couldn't move from his solid position in the circular doorway. While the two Heylin witches continued to bicker like a couple of sisters, that third figure on the throne itself hadn't spoken one word yet. Bob observed this man's bald head, diamond-formed dots on his forehead, and Caucasian, red eyes. Those eyes were boring into him at this moment, and for some reason, he was having a hard time pulling away. Who _was_ he? And why did he look so _familiar_?

"Boy," he finally, abruptly spoke, in an alarmingly gruff voice. "What is your business in the sacred Heylin Palace?"

"I…" Bob faltered at first, weakened under the man's goring glare. "I wish to speak with Shésui."

The brunette witch turned from her banter with Wuya, and began to say something, but she never got the chance.

"Join us," the man insisted, not lifting his gaze from Bob's position. "You will have to do something for us before we grant you the honor of a personal conversation."

Shésui's face morphed from mocking amusement to a smile of victory at this statement, and Bob felt his heart sinking to the bottom of his chest. Was she really just using him? No, he couldn't think like that. It would destroy everything he'd fought this hard for.

Wuya, too, broke her challenging gaze on Shésui and turned towards her old friend with a similar smirk. "Ah, good move, Al. I was wondering how we'd get back at _that_ one…"

The man quickly silenced her with a swipe of his hand, and as Bob watched these actions, he finally realized who he had to be. "Alaric…" he recited aloud to himself. "The founder and head of the Heylin clan… But…how…? You've been dead for over a thousand years…"

A slight, mysterious smile formed on Alaric's face, but he simply continued to question Bob, disregarding the inquiry. "You must have some understanding of Heylin magic to have made it through the gate. We would be glad to accept you as our first follower and admit you among us."

"But what would I have to do?" Bob warily questioned. "You said…"

"Oh, there is no specific task, if that was what you thought," Shésui interjected, slightly advancing on him. She was smiling at him…but it wasn't the same kind of warm smile he'd seen on her face at the Xiaolin Temple. "You'd be doing us a great service simply by being our follower."

Wuya crossed her arms and looked off in another direction.

Although Shésui was eyeing him like a fresh piece of meat, Bob couldn't help but melt inside under her deep, sparkling blue eyes. "Yes," he instantly agreed, his voice growing more stable and assured. "Yes! Of course! I've always wanted to be a Heylin follower!" And with that, he ran forward, to the base of the dais's steps, bowing. Alaric gazed down at the boy in buried delight…then stood and raised his scepter to begin the initiation process.

(-)

"…Well, if this don't look familiar." Clay slid off Dojo's back and onto the squishy, burnt compost of the ground just outside the ominous Heylin Palace.

"_What_ if it don't look familiar? …I mean, if it _doesn't_ look familiar?" Omi asked, slipping off and landing beside the cowboy.

"It's an expression…I was just saying that it _does_ look familiar…" Clay tried to explain as Rai, Kimiko, and Yang slipped off after them. "Remember that sarcasm thing Rai taught you about?"

"Oh," Omi disappointedly realized. "_That_ again."

Kimiko gently set Yang Jack to the ground and walked back to Dojo's tail where the physical Jack was still anchored.

"So you're absolutely sure it's inside the palace?" Rai anxiously asked. "Because it's going to take all we've got just to get past Wuya's security, and we're not even sure what Shésui can summon…"

"Yup, I'm sure," Yang affirmed, nodding his little orange head. "I can feel it even stronger now… It was in a magical room, created just for you, but now, it could be underground as part of the debris. Actually, I'm not even sure it still exists."

"But I thought you said you were sure it was in there!" Rai exclaimed, losing his temper with the boy's cryptic statements. "_How can it be in there if it doesn't even exist_?"

Kimiko's head snapped back in their direction as she was untying Clay's rope from Jack's legs. If Rai was hurting Yang's feelings, she would march over there and give him a knuckle sandwich.

"Well…I can't really describe this feeling," little Yang struggled to explain. "I know we need to go in there. Something very important is going to happen there. I _think_ the next Balance Point is going to be there, but it's not exactly there yet. Does that make sense?"

"Not really." Rai took a deep breath and tried to calm down, because he knew that if he yelled at the boy too much, Kimiko would come marching back and give him a knuckle sandwich.

"It makes perfect sense to me!" Omi chimed in. "We've just got to wait here until Yang Jack feels that the Balance Point has reappeared!"

"By that time, it'll probably be too late," Dojo suddenly spoke up. He'd been listening to their conversation and trying to figure it out. "Yin Jack will be sensing it at the same time, and being already inside the castle, he'll be able to get to it much faster.

"Is there any way you can try to estimate how long it will be until it reappears, Yang?" Kimiko gently asked, as she finished untying the rope from Dojo's tail and handed it back to Clay.

"Well…not really…" Yang admitted, hanging his head a bit. "But we can always just get into the castle now and wait for it to appear from inside."

Rai frowned. "That would be suicide."

"But what else can we do?" Clay worriedly asked, looking up at the palace's ragged tower peaks. "Even if we stay out here, we're bound to be detected and attacked. You remember how Wuya's minions were everyplace…"

"Well, that was partly my fault…" Rai admitted, hanging his head with Yang. "Now I really get to see what you guys went through…"

Kimiko turned away from them and back to Jack's body, which was still hovering lifelessly in mid-air. She leaped up, switched his HeliPack off, and caught him on their way back down. "Dojo…" she told their guardian dragon as she laid Jack back on the ground. "You're going to have to watch him again while we're gone."

"But what if you get in some kind of trouble in there?" Dojo argued, shivering at the prospect. "I have to leave and come help you!"

"Well, hopefully, it won't come to that…"

"Nnn…"

Kimiko's head immediately snapped downward at the sound. It hadn't been her or Dojo, and it sounded too nearby to be Omi, Clay, or Yang…and that voice sounded nothing like Rai's. Her breath caught in shock and worry. Jack's left arm was folding itself underneath his head as his right leg tucked under the left one. No, he couldn't wake up now! They still had eleven more Balance Points to convert!

Quickly, she reached into a brown pouch around Dojo's neck and pulled out the Harp of Harmonies. However, a few seconds later, Jack settled down again and stopped moving. Kimiko uttered a sigh of relief and replaced the Harp to its pouch, much to Dojo's dismay. "Phew…he was just turning over in his sleep."

"Ah!" Dojo cried as he minimized himself and the Harp around his neck now anchored him to the ground. "I can't wait until you get the rest of those Balance Points and I can take this thing off!"

"Don't worry, my friend, it won't be for much longer." Omi hopped over to reassure their little dragon partner. "Look! We're already halfway done!"

This only made Dojo even more depressed. "At this rate, I'll be wearing it for three more days!"

"Well, someone's got to make sure Jack stays asleep," Kimiko reasoned. "Or else Yang would keep disappearing and we'd have to knock his lights out every time we came upon a new Balance Point."

"And God forbid Kimiko has to hurt her dear Jackie," Rai said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, if you remember what Master Fung said, we're supposed to be _protecting _him," Kimiko argued back. "That would entail _not_ whacking him unconscious."

"_Ah_!" a chirpy voice suddenly called out, interrupting Kimiko and Rai's argument.

Kimiko's eyes widened as she looked towards its source and immediately ran to his side. "Yang! _What's wrong_?"

The little boy was trembling and hiding a tear-streaked face behind two small fists. "I-I don't know…" he choked out. "S-Something just…came over me. I just got…really, really sad."

"Well, it's okay…" Kimiko wrapped him in a hug. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad. We're going to go in there and get that Balance Point! And we'll save the world; you'll see! You don't have to worry…"

She opened her eyes, and looked over the boy's shoulder as she hugged him…and froze in place. Someone was standing there…just at the castle's perimeter, looking casually up towards it glowing, sinister symbol. Someone with slick, brown hair and a long, black cloak.

The other Xiaolin Warriors had noticed her tension and froze as well, staring towards their stricken partner. "Don't look now," she mouthed to her fearful friends. "But his father's here." Everyone fell silent, trying not to attract the mysterious Spicer man's attention and each one tried to figure out what they should do next. The silence was horrible.

"What's going on?" Yang looked up and asked Kimiko once he had calmed down.

"Shhhh…" she warned him. "Don't turn around."

The Xiaolin Warriors had no solid evidence that Mr. Spicer was, in fact, on the Heylin side, despite the fact that he seemed quite familiar with Wuya. They were waiting to see just what he was here to do, and if he tried anything evil, that would be their invitation to attack.

Just then, a different sound entered their earshot. Footsteps. Someone _else_ was approaching from the opposite direction! Great; this was just what they needed. Everyone turned their heads as the footsteps grew slightly louder, and a tall shape began to emerge out of the shadows.

Yang's red eyes grew even larger and lit up in wonder and delight. "…_Mommy_!"

Kimiko quickly pressed her hand over his mouth and checked the distant shadow of Mr. Spicer to make sure he hadn't noticed. But, indeed, it was Marylyn Orre who then appeared in front of them. She seemed just as surprised to see them as they were to see her.

"The Xiaolin Warriors…" she whispered in amazement as she drew closer. "Jackie… At least I succeeded in finding you."

"Mistress Marylyn…" Omi softly replied, approaching and turning his head up to her. "…We are sincerely sorry that we did not offer you and Master Fung a warning before we left on our quest, but it has been an extremely urgent one…"

"I understand…" Marylyn replied, eyes falling on her de-aged son, who struggled in Kimiko's arms at the acknowledgement. "So this is the effect of the Metal Orbs…"

"Jack's soul has split into Yin and Yang forms," Omi continued to explain. "That's his Yang form. His Yin form has teamed up with Wuya and Shésui…"

"_Mommy_!" Yang yelled again, and this time, Kimiko couldn't hold him back. He fought his way out of her arms and ran to his mother's side, throwing his short arms around one of her legs. "Mommy! Mommy, you're back! Why did you leave me?"

Marylyn's formerly blank and hardened face immediately softened and she bent down and enveloped the little boy in her arms. "Oh, Jackie, I never wanted to leave _you_. I love you. I wanted to take you with me, but I just couldn't. Maybe someday you'll understand…"

"I love you too, Mommy," Yang replied, hugging her tighter. "I missed you. I'm so glad you're back."

"I'm glad to be back too," Marylyn replied, smiling a little as she patted the entity's head. "And I'm not going to leave you again, no matter what."

Just then, a slight rustling sound echoed from the distance. Mr. Spicer was moving…and growing closer to their location at every moment.

"Um, I hate to break up this reunion, but…" Rai pointed behind him towards the advancing shadow, gritting his teeth with apprehension.

Marylyn raised her head and turned to look in that direction. Gently, she rose back to her feet, pulling Yang away by the hands. "I will be right back," she assured him. "There's a little something I have to take care of." And at last, she turned around, facing her abhorred ex-husband with a determined scowl and a justly defensive demeanor. How dare he…?

Henry lifted his head towards them when he had drawn close enough, revealing a miniature smile and lighted red eyes. His thick, clenched eyebrows reminded them so much of Jack…or more specifically, Yin Jack, as he carried a distinct air of superiority and malignity around him. "There you are," he finally spoke, stopping several yards away from his ex-wife. "I thought I heard someone following me. The Xiaolin Warriors have always thought themselves so silent and swift…" His eyes flickered to his sides for a moment, taking in his other spectators. "…And now look where they are."

Marylyn stepped back, taking on a defensive stance in preparation. "If you're here to join the Heylin forces, I won't let you!" she cried.

Henry simply chuckled to himself. "I wouldn't need to join them, my dear; I've always been a part of them!"

"I know _that_," Marylyn growled, through clenched teeth. "But if you wish to become a part of Wuya's new army…_that_ I won't allow."

"And why not?" Henry continued to taunt her. "Because you still believe I'm a handsome, upstanding gentleman deep inside?"

"Not in the least. But the more followers the Heylin witches gain, the stronger they shall become! It is my duty to prevent greater conflict between the two sides, or the Great Showdown War could repeat itself!"

Henry persisted chuckling, even as she made these prominent declarations. "At this point, a second war is imminent," he told her. "With two Heylin witches and the leader resurrected… Let us only hope _your_ side does not yield the same!"

"Stop laughing!" Marylyn barked back, finally fed up with his nonchalant attitude. "You think this is a laughing matter? Being on the brink of _war_? Think about it! What about your _son?_ You are putting his life in immediate danger!"

"He'll only be in danger if he chooses to fight against us," Henry assured her. "I don't understand why _that's _the reason you're so bent on stopping me." With that, he turned from her and began walking to the palace's jagged entryway, but he didn't get very far.

Marylyn zipped up in a flash and directed a swift kick to his lower legs. The attack had meant to trip him, but he had already jumped to the side and blocked her blow.

"Now what's this? I never gave you an invitation to the battle." Nevertheless, he pushed back his cloak, readying himself for an offensive retaliation.

"I don't _need_ one!" Marylyn cried, "I've got all the reason I need already!" The rage she'd felt for this man over the years was now bubbling to the surface, and in her heightened state, made another pass at him.

During all this, the Xiaolin Warriors remained still, gaping at the fighting adults. These were personal matters, pertaining to their own pasts, and although it had begun to turn ugly, it was best not to interfere in situations like these. "And I thought _my_ parents fought a lot," Rai muttered, sadly to himself.

Kimiko put her arm around Yang Jack, who was gripping her dress and trying to hide behind her. It must have been painful for him to watch his parents battling it out like this…but it needed to be done. At last, the two of them could settle their differences…but at what cost?

"I always knew it!" Marylyn cried, as she recuperated from Henry's dodge and prepared to strike him again. "You've never cared about your family! You've only wanted to use Jack for your own advancement!"

Henry reached out to catch his ex-wife's attacking arm. He gripped her wrist tightly and yanked her closer towards him. "You're one to talk," he reproached, his voice low, so that only she could hear. "For one who would abandon her own family rather than stick it out and face me."

"You were going to hurt me!" Marylyn broke away in objection. "You would've thrown me out of your house anyway! You were the one pulling my son away from me! Because you knew that if he went with me, he'd become the next Xiaolin Dragon of Metal. But it didn't matter, since that's what he became anyway!"

This time, it was at last Henry initiating the attack. Some sort of dark, flickering aura had sprung up over his skin, and a small sphere of energy of that same hue materialized in his hands. "But not before making a monumental advance for our kind!" he cried, releasing the energy ball towards Marylyn.

The red-haired woman just barely slipped underneath its width, and continued forward, preparing another attack against him.

"Stop it!" Yang's little voice suddenly called out in protest. "Stop fighting over Jack like that!" The Xiaolin Warriors looked back at the little boy, curious as to why he had just referred to himself in the third person. _Well_, Kimiko thought as she looked into his watery red eyes, _they're fighting over Jack as a whole, but Yang is only a piece of his soul…_

"Like I said before!" Marylyn cried in protest, recovering from another dodged blow and preparing to hide from another Heylin energy blast. "You were only using him to open that puzzle box for you! You were _trying_ to convert him to the Heylin ways by purposely ignoring him!" Obviously, neither of them had heard the little boy's cry among the yelling and crashing of the battle.

The Xiaolin Warriors and even Dojo were too transfixed on the events unfolding in front of them to even take notice as something behind them began to move, and Marylyn and Henry could hardly see anything else, in the dust cloud they were creating around themselves.

Yet another of these sprays of dirt and debris shot into the air as Henry's mass of dark power missed Marylyn and crashed to the ground, just a few feet in front of the palace entry. "I have only ever wished for my son to follow in my footsteps and take participation in the family business."

Marylyn's brow knitted a little tighter as she finally began to recognize those awful things she had seen, so long ago. She thrust towards her ex-husband this time with renewed ferocity. "Your business is _no one's _business!" When she approached this time, Henry formed another blast of power, instead of simply trying to dodge the onslaught. This time, he'd face her head on, and take her down with his own hands.

The Xiaolin Warriors gasped. Omi instinctively leaped forward, preparing to transform to help them, but Clay's strong arm yanked him back. Walking into the middle of that could mean certain death. There was bound to be a great explosion, resulting in both Spicer parents badly injured. There had to be some way to stop this…but what could they do! Rai closed his eyes, and Kimiko kneeled down, shielding Yang's view.

Dojo turned away from the sight…and gasped again at a much more alarming one behind him. There was no one there. "Wh-_What_? _Where_…!" he exclaimed, but he didn't have to wonder for much longer.

"_Jack_!" Kimiko shrieked, when she suddenly noticed. Rai opened his eyes again and his mouth fell open. Omi and Clay turned their heads upwards, along with their partners and suppressed cries of shock.

Jack, the original body, was suspended above their heads, just in front of his parents' battlegrounds. The strange thing was, his HeliPack was off…and there was nothing holding him there in the sky. He seemed awake, since his arms were outstretched and his eyes were open, but he still did not seem fully conscious. A blank film of some sort had covered his eyes…and they simply stared straight ahead, as if looking into the next world. The Xiaolin Warriors shivered. They recognized that look. It was the same trance-like appearance that Yang had taken on whenever he was converting a Balance Point…but for some reason, Jack's seemed much more…empty.

His eyelids gently closed again, but his position didn't change. In that moment, the world around them seemed to change entirely. A light glow blinked into existence, encircling Jack, and then, it began to spread. It spread over Omi, Clay, and Raimundo, who confusedly watched it slip beneath their feet. It spread over Kimiko, who trembled nervously in its wake, while Yang burst out of her arms and tried to reach out and touch it. It spread over Dojo, causing him to quiver with magical energy. And finally, it spread over Marylyn and Henry, whose attacks were immediately absorbed, resulting in both of them falling to their knees in the aftermath. All was unusually quiet and serene as the aura continued to expand…further and further out into the world. It swallowed the entire Heylin Palace and continued reaching out towards the horizon.

"Wh…What is _this?_" Henry at last spoke, with buried distaste.

Marylyn's heart beat loudly against her chest as she recalled. Her deep green eyes turned up towards her floating son in pure awe. She couldn't even believe it was possible…she'd always believed that it could never be obtained…but as she looked out to the distance, she couldn't even see where the magical aura had stopped. So this was what it looked like from inside. Everyone and everything seemed coated in a sparkling, grayish film. They'd be no way they could continue with their fight now.

"It's the Silver Shield," Marylyn whispered, just barely loud enough for the Xiaolin Dragons to hear as they approached her. "Level Five."

"Level Five?" Omi asked, being the first one to reach her side. "But Jack is only a Xiaolin Apprentice- Level Two. Level Five would be the Element Orb level…"

"Right," Marylyn explained, when the rest of the Xiaolin Warriors were finally in attendance. "Out of every Dragon of Metal that has existed since the very first, I have been the only one to reach a Level Four Silver Shield. Though previous Dragons of Metal have reached full Xiaolin Dragon status, none but me have been able to extend that level to the Silver Shield, since it is a difficult and ambiguous power. I have no idea how, but somehow, Jack has attained the first ever Level Five Silver Shield. …He must have felt the need to protect himself…and to stop our fighting."

Rai glanced, worriedly up at Jack's still suspended body. "…But what will happen to him while his soul's still separated like this? He can't be awake…"

"I have no idea," Marylyn admitted. "Level Five has never before been reached, so we know nothing about it."

Panic and fear suddenly struck Kimiko's heart. Something was happening to him…but no one knew what. He could be stuck in this frozen, half-conscious state forever! "_Jack_!" she called again, breaking into a run through the mystical gray atmosphere. Finally, she reached his position and leaped upwards towards him with all her might… But as soon as she got close enough to him, some invisible wall smacked against her, repelling her backwards. With a hard slam, Kimiko fell back to the burnt ground.

"Kimiko!" Now it was the rest of the Xiaolin Warriors who were rushing to her own aid. Clay lifted her up in true gentleman fashion, and the others all saw that tears had begun to slip down her smooth cheeks.

"I…I don't know what to do. I just can't reach him…"

"It's okay…" Clay began to try to comfort her, but she abruptly twisted her body out of his arms to face the former Spicer couple.

"This is all your fault!" she burst out. "If you two hadn't been fighting like that, with no regard for his feelings, none of this would have happened! You've got to stop this! Don't you see what you're _doing_ to him?"

Another dreadfully tense silence passed after Kimiko's outburst, like the spraying sands after the explosion of a dark ball.

Finally, Henry broke the serenity by simply getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "Well…" he considered. "…I suppose I could relinquish my designs for the present moment. I'm fairly certain it won't be a loss."

All eyes remained on him, even as he turned around and began to head off in the opposite direction. Marylyn shot him a suspicious glare, but no further altercations passed between them. The peaceful yet unnerving silence returned, as everyone tensely waited for the man to disappear.

"I will see you again, my dear," he ominously declared, waving slightly back at Marylyn just before he finally disappeared into the dense shield particles, which much resembled a thin layer of fog. Everyone slowly breathed inward sighs of relief as soon as he was out of sight.

Gradually, the silver perimeter began to blink, and Kimiko turned her attention back to her unusually suspended boyfriend. The giant Silver Shield was dying away ay last…but now what would happen? The silvery particles dispersed, and the world once again returned to vibrant color.

"Jack!" Kimiko exclaimed again, resuming her sprint towards him, much to the other Dragons' concern. If that protective sphere was still in place, she could hurt herself again. Thankfully, Jack's body then began to lower, gently to the ground and it laid itself back down just as Kimiko reached his side.

She kneeled and leaned over him in concern. "Jack…" she whispered, just in case he was sleeping again. His eyelids fluttered for a moment, and then completely opened. Those same, deep ruby eyes stared back at her, and she'd never felt more relieved, even when he'd awoken before in the Shen-Gong-Wu Vault.

"Jack!" she cried, a wide smile breaking through the shining teardrops lingering on her cheeks. "You're okay! I was so afraid…I didn't know what was happening…I'm just so…" And before she even realized what she was doing, she was bringing her face closer to his, and her lips pressed against another warm, soft pair of lips.

Jack blinked when she pulled away a moment later. He was just too confused, surprised, and amazed to attempt any kind of speech, so he contented himself with staring up into Kimiko's gentle blue orbs for the next several minutes.

The other Xiaolin Dragons, Dojo, and Marylyn stared at them with similar mute amazement, until Omi suddenly flew into a panic, noticing their predicament. Jack was awake and fully conscious…but Yang was still standing, placidly at his side, as if nothing had happened! In a yellow-and-red blur, Omi zipped to their spot, breaking up Kimiko and Jack's important romantic moment by jumping onto Jack's chest and forcefully staring into his eyes. "Jack Spicer! Do you hear me? Do you understand me? It's Omi! Remember _Omi?_ The Cheese Ball? The Chrome Dome? Do you want to kill me?"

Finally, Jack burst into laughter and swiped the little monk off as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "No, Omi, I don't want to kill you. At least not right now, anyway."

"B-But your Yang side…" he stuttered as he stood up and pointed towards Yang Jack in the distance with the others.

Jack nonchalantly stood up and stretched…but then froze when he got a look at the people in the distance staring back at him. His heart seemed to stop for a moment when he found himself looking into the face of his eight-year-old self. Had he been transported into the _past_ this time?

Kimiko rose next to him, anticipating the oncoming drove of questions, and everyone drew a bit closer as well.

"…Will someone _please _tell me what the _heck _is going on here?" Jack finally burst out, frantically waving his arms to demand all of their attention.

"Um…well…" Kimiko struggled forth.

"Well, you see…" Clay tried next, removing his hat and twisting it around in his hands.

"We don't know where to start!" Rai exclaimed.

"The last thing I remember, we were at the Vault's ruins…" Jack struggled to recall. "…and…and something was missing…and then you all forced me to take a nap…"

"Jack Spicer, meet your own Yang essence!" Omi introduced, holding his short arms out to indicate Yang. "And I still can't understand how you are still conscious and not completely evil if your Yang side is still separate from your body."

"I don't really understand it either…" Yang admitted, furrowing his small brow. "Unless…I'm _not_ really his Yang side…or…no, that's it! Something happened to Yin Jack!"

"What happened?" Omi, Dojo, and Marylyn all asked at once.

"Well, I'm not sure…but he's not Yin Jack anymore! …If that makes any sense. Both his Yin and Yang must have gone back to him when that happened…but that still doesn't explain why I'm still here…"

Jack forcefully shook his head. "Uh…you lost me a long time ago. But I feel fine, so nothing should be wrong with me at least. So where are we, and how did we get here?"

"Well, when we first met your Yang side, he told us about these Balance Point things that had been tipped to the Yin side when you released Wuya…" Kimiko tried to start out. "He's the only one that could realign them, and he only appeared through the Yang Metal Orb when you were asleep…"

"Oh, so _that's _why you were all making such a big deal about me going to sleep…" Jack said to himself.

"…So we had to go all over the world, looking for the Balance Points…" Rai added in. "We went to Hong Kong, and Tokyo, and Russia, and all around China… There was a big battle at your house between us, the Heylin witches, and your Yin side, but we got through it okay…"

Jack's eyes grew wider with each activity that Rai mentioned. "Sheesh, you did a _lot _in one day!" he cried.

"Excuse me!" Dojo objected, slithering up and throwing the sack containing the Harp of Harmonies from his neck. "It took a lot longer than that to fly to all those places and back! I've had to sit around and keep watch over you all this time, making sure you didn't wake up!"

"This is our second day of looking for the Balance Points," Kimiko explained, which only seemed to scare Jack even more.

"You mean I've been asleep for almost _two whole days_? …I…just lost a part of my life…I feel like that guy Pip von Tinkle or something…"

"Rip van Winkle," Rai corrected.

"Well, now we're at the entrance to the Heylin Palace…" Kimiko picked up. "Your parents just had a huge fight in front of it and you somehow woke up and did the Level Five Silver Shield to stop them."

Jack blinked again, trying to bring his fuzzy memories into perception. "I do…kind of remember something like that…except it was like a dream. They were battling each other over me, and…it didn't seem right. I just wanted to disappear, since I was what they were fighting over, and then…there was this warm, safe feeling."

Marylyn couldn't resist anymore, and burst past the Xiaolin Dragons to pull her son into a hug. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry. This whole thing was my fault. I know it must have hurt you to see us battling each other like that. You must have thought everything was your fault, the way we were going on…"

"N-No, Mom, it's alright," Jack struggled to speak underneath her tight grip. "I…think I understand. You were a Xiaolin Dragon. He's a Heylin follower. I'm going to have to go up against my own father now…"

Marylyn smiled as she released him, but still kept one hand resting on his shoulder. "Well, don't worry about that. I know you'll do an excellent job. You're already turning out to be a greater Dragon of Metal than I ever was."

Jack blushed a bit, but before they could exchange any other sweet mother-son words, a small voice piped up from around their feet. "Uh, I don't mean to be a nuisance, but it's getting kinda late," Dojo realized. "Haven't we still got a Balance Point to find?"

"That is correct!" Omi cried, jumping out and pointing determinedly towards the imposing palace. "Onwards! We are most ready for you now!"

(-)

At last, the mysterious grey barrier had disappeared, and the magic reached its intended destination. Alaric scoffed, flicking the dust off his beaded arms as if it were a bit of meddlesome cobweb. "Nothing to worry about," he assured Wuya and Shésui, who had had no previous experience with this line of power. "Just one bothersome Dragon of Metal's attempt to protect herself."

"You mean _himself_," Shésui corrected. "The Dragon of Metal position in this era has gone to a male, believe it or not."

"Well," Wuya added, with a chuckle, "I might not be so sure of that. He did declare himself Queen…"

"There's no time for joking around," Alaric scolded. "Now…was it Bob?"

Bob had been keeping pace between the witches and at this statement, turned his head to nod, submissively to the great Heylin leader.

"Here we are. We've arrived at your room. Please let us know if there is anything else you might like within its walls." The group stopped before a stone doorway and stared eagerly towards its entrance.

Bob finally tore his gaze away from Shésui for a moment to get a look…and his eyebrows rose even higher. "Bob Zone?" he read off the chiseled sign above the large double doors. "What the heck is this?"

"It's the Heart's Desire Room," Wuya reflected, placing a claw-like hand over his shoulder. "It may only come into existence when a person outside the Heylin order enters this palace, agreeing to stay in exchange for service. Inside, you will find everything your heart desires. Enjoy it while you can."

Bob disgustedly shrugged her hand off, looking back towards his love, obviously intending this next question for her. "It can't possibly contain _all _of my heart's desires. That would be physically impossible, wouldn't it?"

"You'd be surprised," Wuya continued, missing his deliberate glance. "I once experimented with fitting entire countries inside. Go on, see for yourself."

Oddly enough, even Alaric seemed eager for Bob to open the Heart's Desire Room, and pushed the boy forward towards the door at his co-operative's suggestion. "We will return to check on you in a few more hours," he gravely remarked. "So don't get too involved." The three of them began to turn to return to the inner sanctum.

"Have fun," Shésui finally spoke up, giving him a faintly encouraging smile just before she turned back around to join Alaric. And that was all it took to convince Bob to actually enter the room after all.

The instant he stepped through the large wooden doors, a great roar met his ears. At first, he wasn't sure if it was a jet plane or a tornado, but it was neither. A gigantic crowd of girls stood before him, and they erupted into screams at the mere sight of him. "Yeeeeeeeek!" "It's Bob!" "Bob, Bob, Bob!" "I love you, Bob!" "I'm your biggest fan!" "No, _I_ am!" "Nuh-uh, he's _mine_!"

All the Heylin boy could do was stare as the girls began to close in on him. "…Hey there, ladies," he finally spoke, flashing them a bit of a smile. Instantly, the girls closest to him hit the concrete floor. More female fans rushed forth to take their place, but at that moment, Bob caught a glimpse of something beyond their ranks. Something blue and brown.

"Can I have your autograph?" one blonde girl squealed from his right, while another attempted to steal a piece of his hair, and a third was, disturbingly enough, licking his shoes. The other ten thousand or so screamed and fought to get closer to him. Bob jumped and struggled to get a closer look, but as soon as he did, a fourth girl screamed, "Ah! Bob!" and latched onto his waist, dragging him down. He gritted his teeth in aggravation as she then proceeded to snuggle his ragged sweatshirt, and the first loudly insisted on an autograph again.

"Just _shut up_, all of you!" he finally yelled, and the room snapped into dead silence. The girls all froze, incredulous looks unanimously passing over their faces. I don't want you anymore! Can't you see…!" And with that, the shocked crowd began to flicker and blink out of existence.

"Phew…" Bob sighed once they had vanished. "I'll never wish to be famous again." He walked further into the room to investigate that something he'd seen in the distance…and when he drew close enough, he popped back up out of his slump and stared in fixed amazement.

Sitting on top of a giant bottle of orange soda, next to what appeared to be a motocross racetrack, was the one thing that he hadn't believed the room could produce. "…Shésui!"

(-)

"Hyah!" With one swift kick, little Omi demolished an icicle-bat swooping towards his head. "Hah!" he announced, as he returned to the ground and assumed an arrogant swagger. "You will never defeat me with my own element, foolish witch!" An awful screech erupted from above, and then, the largest of the icicle-bats came tearing down from the cavernous ceiling, aiming its dagger-like wings straight at the boy's round head.

"Star Hanabi, Fire!" Kimiko yelled, hurling the flaming star towards the bat before it could reach him Omi turned around just in time to see the fireworks, as the Star Hanabi sliced straight through the bat, melting it into a dripping puddle at his feet. "You got to be more careful, Omi," Kimiko scolded, as she caught her Shen-Gong-Wu again. "I bet she heard you just now."

As if to prove her point, a new batch of castle-defending monsters sprang to life from the rocky ground and the leaking ceiling. Clay took a bold step out in front of the others, closing his eyes and transforming into his green, caped tunic. With a quick pose and a shout of "Seismic Dragon Kick, Earth!" the ground below the enemies erupted, splitting and cracking apart. The rock creatures flew apart at the force of the impact, and tumbled back into the ground as boulders. Already, this was an indication of just how powerful they had become since their last battle with Wuya. With their new Element Orb powers, there was nothing that could stop them now.

As the rock-and-ice army replenished, Omi, Kimiko, Rai, and Clay jumped into position. "Dragon X Kumei Formation!" they called, and Rai, Omi, and Kimiko's clothing morphed onto their Element Orb uniforms as well.

Meanwhile, Dojo, Marylyn, and the two Jacks looked on in helplessness. "Well, it doesn't appear that we'll be needed," Marylyn spoke, smiling gently as she did so.

"But I've got to get past them," Yang worriedly reminded her. "I'm the one that has to convert the Balance Point!"

Dojo turned his head to the little boy, about to suggest that he fly him across the mayhem, but Jack interrupted him. He kneeled next to his former self and smiled, comfortingly. "You can hop on my back," he offered. "I'll carry you through. Or…I'll carry _myself_ through, or…"

Yang smiled and walked behind him, wrapping his short arms around his neck. "It's okay…I don't think I'm really you anymore."

"Well, whatever you are…" Jack gripped the boy's little legs and stood back up. "…we're going to make it, kiddo!" He turned back around to flash a smile at Marylyn and Dojo. "We'll see you on the other side."

The entire entryway room was pandemonium. The massive elemental blasts from the original Xiaolin Warriors tore up pieces of the walls and ceiling. Mighty rock minions erupted from the ground and threw powerful punches, and you never knew when another drop of stalactite water would become an ice-bat and drop down on your head. Marylyn could easily fight her way through the calamity if she found herself in a pinch, and Dojo was slowly slinking along the wall, so no one noticed him. A few times, Jack had to use the Silver Shield to protect himself and his passenger from stray fire or rock explosions, and it became extremely difficult when Omi flooded the entire room and everyone was forced to swim up to the ceiling, where more bats were waiting for them.

At last, the ocean seceded, and the Jacks finally arrived at the doorway on the opposite side of the room. "Hey, you guys!" he yelled to his fellow Xiaolin Warriors. "C'mon, we're all at the door!" Marylyn and Dojo reached their side at that moment, and seeing them together, the Xiaolin Warriors made a charge for it. With one final combined attack, they blasted the remaining monsters out of the way and sprinted to the door. Marylyn quickly opened it and shoved the kids inside ahead of her, before the minions had another chance to regenerate.

"Sheesh," Raimundo panted as he leaned his back against the door's solid inside. "I never realized how tiring fighting against those things is."

Omi had his head in his hand again, obviously thinking about something. "I wonder…" he mused. "Wuya uses rock creatures to attack, while Shésui uses ice…_water_ creatures… Were there other Heylin witches with fire and wind-controlling powers?"

Marylyn shook her head, gravely. "We may never know," she admitted. "Now much was recorded in the Xiaolin scrolls about the Heylin order and the way it worked…probably for fear that it would rise again…like it has now."

"That doesn't really make sense," Kimiko rationalized. "If I had defeated an enemy and was afraid that that enemy would come back to hurt me again, I'd make as many notes on it as possible."

"But that's just it," Marylyn replied. "The Heylin clan was never truly defeated. Grand Master Dashi didn't _defeat_ Wuya; he only temporarily imprisoned her. He knew that someone like Jack would be able to release her again sometime in the future, but there was nothing he could do about it."

"Um…the _Balance Point_?" Yang suddenly interrupted his mother, jabbing a finger down the dark hallway in front of them. "It's this way! The others might already be there!"

The Xiaolin Warriors and Dojo snapped out of their thinking trances to follow the little boy into the darkness. "I…I think I just remembered something…" Dojo's wavering voice spoke up as he slithered along at their feet.

"What is it, little buddy?" Clay politely asked, although he couldn't see the dragon in this blackness.

"There was this girl…and she was really angry, and packing her things up. I think I was trying to stop her or something, but she wouldn't listen to me…"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Kimiko's voice asked.

"I don't know," Dojo replied. "I just suddenly remembered it. It was from a long time ago."

They traveled along the corridor for a few more moments in silence. All of a sudden, Rai felt something grab him forcefully around the neck. He screamed in reaction, before realizing that it was just Jack, squeezing him and hiding his face in his shoulder. "_Jack_!" he growled.

"Oh…Rai?" Jack mumbled against his white sleeve. "I thought it was Kimiko."

"Do I _look_ like Kimiko?" Rai argued, before realizing that you really couldn't see anything in this darkness. "So?" he repeated, when his companion didn't move. "Get off me and go cling to Kimiko!"

"B-But it's too dark!" Jack whimpered into his shoulder. "I won't be able to find her! Just…tell me when it's over."

Rai groaned and rolled his eyes, but just relinquished and let Jack hide against his arms until they emerged into a lit room again. As their unofficial guide and Balance Point detector, Yang Jack was the first to reach the end of the hallway, and stopped, jumping up excitedly in front of a door. "Here! Right here! It's in here!"

"Shh," Marylyn gently advised him, stepping out after him. "Don't yell so loud. The Heylin witches could find us, if they're not here already."

"Sorry," he apologized. "I just get excited when it's so close…"

Omi was next to emerge from the shadowy hallway, Dojo curling around his head like a live crown. He came to an astonished halt just before the indicated sat of large double doors and gaped up at the stone decorations accenting its top and sides.

Clay came next, frowning soberly at the sight, and despite his normally calm demeanor, his hands clenched into fists.

Kimiko stepped out between Omi and Clay. She looked up as well and cocked her head, an incredulous "you've-gotta-be-kiddin'-me" glare boring into the carved letters.

"You can let go now!" Rai snapped to his clingy partner, shrugging him off as the two of them stepped into the room's patch of light.

Jack blinked at his Brazilian pal for a few moments, before snapping out of it and noticing the doorway. "I don't want to go back in there," he announced.

"Oh brother," Rai commented, rolling his eyes and leaning against the uneven rock wall. "Don't tell me this guy fell for it too."

Two giant statues of a very familiar boy with a baggy sweatshirt, a medallion, a cape, and cornrows stood on pedestals on either side of the doorway. He held one hand out dramatically, as if frozen in the midst of performing a complicated spell. The sign receiving all the disbelieving glares read simply, "Bob Zone."

"Unfortunately, we have to go in there," Marylyn told them. "If that's where the Balance Point is truly located." She cast one quick, questioning glance in Yang's direction.

"I'm sure," the little boy affirmed, his large eyes downcast. "It's in there. On the ceiling."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Omi exclaimed, turning to rally his fellow Xiaolin Dragons. "Wuya and Shésui could already be on their way! He who hesitates will surely not know where he is!"

"Oh, alright," Kimiko groaned, falling back to grab Jack's sleeve and pull him next to her. "But I thought we were done fighting this creep."

"Hopefully, he'll be too busy playing video games or whatever it is he likes to do to even notice we're there!" Rai optimistically thought aloud.

"Okay, then!" Omi cried again, pulling Dojo from his head and setting him back on the ground. "Let's go!"

Just as before, Dojo grew, his tail end reaching back into the cavernous hallway. It was the only way they'd be able to break in. "Now boarding!" Dojo announced. "Five Xiaolin Dragons, one Yang essence, and one former Dragon of Metal." The group slipped onto their regular Dojo-seats, and Kimiko held onto Yang again, so he wouldn't fall off. "Okay, here we go!"

With one mighty shove forward, Dojo's long snout smashed through the grayish wooden double doors and immediately snaked his way into the air, towards the room's ceiling. However, before they could reach it, a blackened spark of power zoomed up towards him, and in an instant, they all found themselves slipping off the dragon's back.

"Aaugh!" Dojo writhed, recoiling in the impact of the electric shock of power, and his passengers made a desperate leap for the ground. Omi, Marylyn, Clay, and Rai landed in different positions with nimble cat-like reflexes. They instantly assumed standard defensive kung-fu positions, in case of an additional attack. Meanwhile, Jack had activated his HeliPack and had Kimiko by her uniform's collar. He gently set her, and Yang, in her arms, onto the ground between them and struggled into a similar position.

That was when they finally noticed. They'd been right in assuming that the Heylin witches could already be there. Wuya was standing beside a twenty-four-hour hot dog stand, casting a malignantly amusing smile towards their group, and holding an unidentifiable golden object behind her back. Gripping her sharp shoulder from just slightly above was a man the Xiaolin Warriors had never seen before, but it was clearly obvious that he was some sort of evil leader to them all.

"So you _finally_ decided to show yourselves," Wuya taunted, in an impatient tone. "We've known that you had to be close…"

At that point, the Xiaolin Warriors' eyes shifted to the right to catch sight of the other approaching figures in their peripheral vision. Shésui appeared, assuming a prepared position at Wuya's side, but strangely enough, her arm was interlocked with Bob Sanderson's, and she dragged the boy with her. "Ooh, look!" she exclaimed in mock delight. "The Xiaolin Dragons and their little buddies have come to play with us too! Isn't that fortunate?"

"Less talk!" Omi brazenly insisted. "We have come for the Balance Point…and we will not let you stop us!"

"You've picked the wrong room for that," Bob suddenly spoke. "I can bend anything part of this room to my own will. Say if I said I wanted it moved to the back wall…" No sooner had the words left his mouth, when the large yin-yang symbol carved into the room's ceiling faded and appeared again, carved into the very back portion of the room's circling wall. "…Viola," he announced, gesturing towards the relocated symbol.

"It doesn't matter!" Rai called out to the confused boy. "I know a thing or two about this room as well…and it will never be able to give you everything you truly want."

"Oh, really?" Bob scoffed back. He cast an inconspicuous glance towards his elegant companion. "It's doing a pretty darn good job so far."

"We have no more time for your foolish nonsense!" Omi barked at the gangster boy. He whipped back around to his fellow Xiaolin Warriors. "_Charge_!"

With that one commanding cry, the four Xiaolin Warriors, clad in Element Orb uniforms burst into a deadly sprint towards the back wall.

"…Ultimate Tornado!" Rai yelled, aiming his finishing blast at Shésui as he rushed past. The icy Heylin witch produced a powerful blackened energy ball, which collided with the destructive winds, reducing them to a slightly heavy breeze.

"…Ultimate Tsunami!" Omi cried, directing the flood waters straight onto Bob Sanderson, standing out to block his path. The water came on so quickly, that he had no time to react, and drifted backwards, out of their way.

Bob narrowed his eyes and concentrated. Omi was almost there now. The little round-headed monk reached out a hand towards the symbol on the wall, and immediately, just before he could touch it, it disappeared.

"No!" he yelled. "_Bob Sanderson_!"

Bob couldn't help but let out a malicious laugh at this point. "I tried to warn you. Don't you ever listen?"

"Great," Kimiko sighed, paddling up to where Omi and Rai had at last arrived against the wall. "_Now_ where has it gone?"

"There!" Clay's voice sang out from further back. "I see it! It's on the hot dog stand!"

Omi held out a pointy hand, willing the giant pool of water's evaporation. When they were finally deposited back on the room's dry floor, they assumed their sprint, back towards the hot dog stand, this time, with Clay in the lead.

As the two landed safely back on dry land, Yang Jack sighed and rolled his large eyes atop his older self's shoulders. "Everyone seems to be forgetting that _I'm _the one that's got to reach the Balance Point, to convert it. It'll do no good if _they_ manage to get a hold of it."

Jack nodded and secretly eyed the corner of the hot dog stand nearby, where he could easily see the yin-yang symbol. "_I'll _get you there," he decided, and positioned himself straight towards it.

As the group of powered-up Xiaolin came barreling towards them, the members of the Heylin clan reacted in vastly different ways. Shésui readied herself for another defensive blast, but Wuya seemed unconcerned, pulling the object from behind her back—the glittering, golden Biao Lu Basin—and trying to shake the last of Omi's water out of it. Alaric simply stepped to the side, avoiding this battle, as if it were far below him to get involved in such a childish skirmish. Soon, he found himself locked into a glaring contest with Marylyn Orre, who'd decided he looked too much like Henry to be ignored.

"…Ultimate Earthquake!" Clay yelled at the end of the sequence as he approached the Heylin congregation. As he zoomed forward, he stabbed his right boot into the ground with as much force as he could muster. The blast erupted from his leg, and rippled out towards the Heylin witches.

In a frenzy of blind action, Bob made a leap towards Shésui, intending to cushion the blast before it reached her. Her claw-hand shot forward, seizing the boy by the sweatshirt when he reached her side, and with one powerful thrust, tossed him backwards, next to the hot dog stand.

Gritting her fang-like teeth into a maniacal grin, Shésui thrust out her arms, an ominous spiral of black, opaque liquid starting up around her body. "_Earth_, huh?" she taunted. "I can beat Earth!" And with that, she commanded her dark, watery jet streams towards the approaching ridge of rocky ground. They shot straight into the ground…and after a few more moments, the attack had completely halted.

Clay halted as well, skidding to a stop and staring, awestruck at the witch. None of them had known she could do that.

Kimiko whizzed past his frozen form, not fazed a bit. Her attack, however, had a different target. "…Ultimate Inferno!" Roaring walls of fire burst from her small hands, heading straight towards Wuya.

Caught slightly off guard, the former Heylin leader shoved the Biao Lu Basin out to absorb the attack. The impact of the flames' velocity was too much for the little Shen-Gong-Wu, and it shot out of Wuya's grip. It flung itself straight over the hot dog stand, and embedded itself, lip-down, in the soft ground that the impact of Clay's attack had created.

With one concentrated swoop of her hand, Wuya absorbed the majority of the attack, although a bit of flames got past her, setting the entire "Pimp It" men's clothing line on fire.

Bob slowly sat up as the smell of melting gangsta wear reached his nose. He shook his head and tried to poke the visible pieces of his dark blue hair against his skull. _Why did she do that?_ he wondered. _Was she annoyed and wanted me out of her way, or was she…concerned for my safety?_ As he once again tried to clarify his love's confusing actions, he glanced over…and noticed the shiny gold side of the Biao Lu Basin sticking out of the ground just a few yards away.

From his concentrating position away from the fray, Jack focused his red eyes on Wuya, tracking her every movement. _C'mon, Kimiko_, he tried to send a telepathic message to his girlfriend. _Just a little bit further…_ As she continued to battle the Japanese girl, Wuya was moving steadily forward, away from the hot dog stand. All he needed was for her to just move a little further…

That was it! As soon as her bare foot stepped over the imaginary line circling the stand, Jack shot forward, pressing Yang's short legs hard into his sides. They were almost to the Balance Point, and Yang instinctually leaped off his shoulders to make a grab at it…but a new problem had arisen.

Jack noticed the Biao Lu Basin embedded in front of him, and Bob sprinting forward towards it with all his might. That was their Shen-Gong-Wu! Wuya and Shésui had stolen it from them; he couldn't let Bob get to it first!

The instant he reached out for it, Bob dived for it as well. Their hands pressed against the basin's smooth bottom on opposite sides.

Yang Jack blinked when the Balance Point that he'd been in the process of converting faded from the side of the stand altogether. Not this again… The Xiaolin Warriors, Marylyn, and even Wuya, Shésui, and Alaric glared towards them as a golden glow softly lit up around the Shen-Gong-Wu and around the two boys.

Jack was too dumbstruck to speak, but when he looked up, he saw Bob's scratched face smirking at him through the golden sheen.

"Hey, Spicy," he greeted, in a voice lined with old, familiar resentment. "I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown."


End file.
